Hollyoaks: Secrets & Lies
by sunilgangarh
Summary: Based in the village of Hollyoaks, this is a story which explores the presence of secrets and lies within all sorts of relationships. Not only will these characters face being in a position of revealing or concealing the truth, but they will also deal with love, hatred, betrayal, morality, tension and the possibility of death. Please review and share with your friends!
1. Chapter 1 - Welcome To Hollyoaks!

As the co-owner of Savage's Emporium, a dusty antique shop in the centre of Hollyoaks village, Dennis Savage decided to close a little earlier than usual in order to be on time for something rather important. The current love of his life, Blessing, was finally undergoing sex reassignment surgery and Dennis really could not afford to let her down once again by missing something important.

After locking the shop's shabby-looking door, Dennis whirled around only to bump into Ste. Ste was not only recovering from excessive drug use and being constantly in trouble for drug dealing, but he was also recovering from a stream of tragic relationships that had shaped a darker form of himself and this resulted in a slow deterioration of his faith in all forms of relationships. You can see it in his eyes. Ste's most recent failed relationship with a man named John Paul McQueen was unstable to say the least. Both men were sheltering hidden guilt. Ste, for his secret drug-use and John Paul because he had been raped. Their inability to bring their issues out in the open caused them to withdraw further into themselves. However, after Ste's drug use stopped, he was forced to try and sell his remaining cocaine. When his secret stash was found, John Paul left Ste and refused to believe that Ste had stopped using drugs and was simply trying to free himself of the evidence and of his debt.

The only man Ste ever truly loved was Brendan Brady. Along with their unconditional love for one another came the inevitable involvement in Brendan's drug dealing and domestic violence. Ste's drug use stemmed from this relationship and also as a coping mechanism after Brendan was arrested for several murders.

"Alright, Ste. Got your rent money yet? Let me guess, end o' the week again?" Dennis exhaled as he slipped the keys into his back pocket.

"What do you think? It's not like I ever have it on time. Can you stop pointing that out, actually? I know I'm a let-down with no money. I don't need reminding every single week." Recent events echoed in Ste's tone.

Dennis half-smiled in sympathy as a taxi pulled up across the street. Two figures spilled out of the back seats laughing and gazing around in amazement as they lugged their enormous suitcases from the boot. Their presence was so out-of-place that Ste and Dennis glared over at them. The man, was tall, dark-haired and appeared to be fresh out of college. He was wearing an overly-colourful t-shirt that would catch your attention from space. The woman was much shorter than her friend with flowing brunette hair and she was dressed a lot more casual.

"They must be lost…" Dennis muttered to Ste, who was still trying to work out what the deal was with the man's t-shirt. The pair looked around briefly and spotted Dennis. "Oh, hey, sorry!" The man waved from across the street. They began to march across the street, still giggling as their suitcases bounced on the cobblestone road.

"Erm, sorry, my name's Sunil. This is my friend, Danni. We're just passing through and were wondering if any of you knew if there's, like, a place we could stay temporarily. Like, a hotel or B'n'B?" Sunil panted. They both looked utterly exhausted but as if they had just been on a rollercoaster. "Er, not really, I'm afraid. There's flats over there you can rent…" Dennis pointed to the end of the street towards the small supermarket, _Price Slice_. "Well, we're not really looking for a flat… more like, just a room. We just need beds really! Something cheap!" Danni said with a small laugh.

"Well, hmm. I suppose you could rent the two rooms at mine seeing as this chap isn't going to be paying me any time soon!" Dennis nudged Ste on the shoulder, who was zoned out but now ticked off that Dennis had brought up his financial difficulties once again. "Is it, like, a house?" Danni asked. "Well, yeah. It's a bit of a mess but if you're just passing through… Actually, Ste, would you bring them over and sort them out? You have a key. Blessing's operation is in…" as Dennis looked down at his watch, his face lost colour and he gasped so hard that he almost left the ground. He bulldozed past Danni, who whispered "rude" and he began galloping out of sight, shouting, "she's going to kill me".

Sunil and Danni turned back to Ste and waited for him to say something. "Uh, right, c'mon then…" Ste muttered. Sunil wheeled his suitcase over Ste's foot as they began to move. "Ow! Will you watch what you're doing?!" Ste yelled. "Sorry, sorry! I know, these things are heavy!" Sunil replied. He and Danni began giggling as Ste lead the way.

Ste was a distance ahead of Sunil and Danni the entire journey to the house. This was not only because their suitcases were holding them back, but because Ste just didn't want to be around them. "He's a bit of alright, isn't he?" Danni whispered to Sunil, raising her eyebrows. "Yeah, until he opens his mouth! What's his problem?" Sunil said almost too loudly. "You almost crushed his top quality trainers!" Danni joked. "Yeah, I'll crush his face if he's not careful." Sunil, again, almost said too loudly. Danni noticed where Sunil's eyes were directed. "You're checking his arse out, aren't you?" Sunil clamped his hand over Danni's mouth and began hushing her, resulting in the pair giggling even more.

Sunil and Danni both knew as they approached the house that this was not going to be a glamorous, five-star weekend away. The small, rectangular lawn at the front was poorly kept and was being swallowed by a very messy shrub surrounding it. The paint on the window panes was peeling excessively and the walls were covered in cracks from which weeds had sprouted. The paint on the walls was also peeling and heavily weather-damaged. Each tile on the roof was ugly and some were slid out of place, coated in moss or broken in half. Ste swung the front door open and stood aside to let his new temporary housemates in. He gestured them to make their way inside with a look of slight disgust on his face.

The disgust could have been from his hidden opinions of these eccentric strangers or from the smell coming from the house as they stepped inside. Everything looked and smelled damp. Dust covered every surface, the wallpaper had begun to strip itself off, the couch had tears all over it and there were certain patches on the floor that your shoe would get stuck on. Danni looked at Sunil in a way that only they understood as best friends. Sunil knew she was signalling, "this is awful, but it's only for a few nights". Ste closed the door behind them and began making his way upstairs. "Well, c'mon then." he said impatiently. The pair began dragging their suitcases upstairs. "It'd be nice if he gave us a hand." Sunil strained as he followed behind. "I heard that." Ste shouted from the end of the hallway.

"Your name's Danni, yeah? Take that room." Ste pointed at the larger room beside the bathroom. Danni, who was clearly out of breath from carrying both of her stuffed suitcases up the stairs, strode into her room.

"And, eh, Neil, is it?"

"Sunil. 'Neil', but with a 'suh' before it."

"Yeah, right, you can take that room." Ste said before moping into his own room, almost slamming the door behind him. Sunil followed Danni into her room immediately. She was stood by the window and was sliding her shoes off. "It's a right state, isn't it? Ah, well… It's better than that place in Germany. Surprised we survived, to be honest." Sunil admitted. "Mm, I think we just need to get a few drinks down us and some fit lads around us and we'll be fine!" she winked. "Starting already, are we? At least let me get a good shirt on! You know, we should start a reality TV show where we show people how to look fab when travelling a lot." Sunil said as he began to walk around the room, examining the posters of a range of different boybands on the wall presumably left behind by former housemates. "Yeah, but look at how much stuff we carry around. Seriously, I wanted to accidentally-on-purpose leave one of these suitcases on the train and pretend to be gutted about it but I couldn't remember which one had my laptop in it and I didn't fancy the risk… I must start that review of that Welsh hotel, actually. What was is called again?" Danni asked as she began unzipping her suitcase and shuffling through her mountains of clothing.

That evening, Sunil bounced downstairs after unpacking to find Ste making tea by the sink. "Ooh, I'll have one if you're making one." Sunil teased. "Teabags are in that thing, cups are in that press, sugar is under that press and milk is in the fridge." Ste responded sternly without even looking up from his cup. "I didn't… actually want one… Is everything okay? You're really… like, rude." Sunil asked inquisitively. "Why do you want to know?" Ste said as he chucked his spoon into the sink, which was filled with plates and used teabags. "Well, you're my housemate now I guess so it's probably best if we get to know each other." Sunil sighed. "Yeah, no thanks. You two just continue having the time of your life." Ste grumbled under his breath as he began sipping his tea. He burned his mouth and began swearing in frustration.

Ste threw himself onto a chair at the kitchen table and rested his head on his hand. Sunil took a seat beside him and watched him as he rubbed his eyes and yawned. "Are you sure you don't want to tell me what's wrong? I'm not a psychologist or anything but you seem proper pissed off over something." Sunil asked. "Is it that obvious? It just pisses me off when people around me feel happy. I've got nothing to be happy about." Ste began in a low tone. "No job, my kids aren't allowed to see me, everyone around me either dies or leaves me, no money… I could've been in America right now with my own deli." Ste's sudden decision to open up surprised even himself and he withdrew back immediately. "You have kids? Are they in America?" Sunil asked. "No… their mum just doesn't want me to see them. I'm a terrible dad. I was supposed to move to America with my husband and set up a deli…" Ste looked blankly at his cup of tea. He began rubbing his face again and sighed deeply.

"What happened to that plan?" Sunil asked, still trying to make eye contact with Ste. "He died. Like I said, everyone around me either dies or leaves me." Ste seemed to be getting more and more uncomfortable talking about it. "I'm so sorry…" Sunil tried to hold his hand for comfort but Ste pulled his hand back immediately, knocking over his tea. He began swearing again and marched angrily upstairs as Danni made her way downstairs. "Is he alright?" she mouthed as she walked over to the table. "Don't think so…" Sunil replied as he began to clean up the mess and started to discuss everything Ste had just said.

Dennis returned home as it began to get dark and he appeared to be understandably worried. "You settlin' in alright?" he asked Danni, who was refusing to sit on the dusty, damp sofa and was instead, perched at the kitchen table. "Yeah, yeah. Are you sure it's okay for us to stay here? We don't know how long we'll be here…" Danni asked. "Yes, of course! As long as I get the money every Monday if possible, the more the merrier here! Not being rude but why exactly are you here in the first place? I mean, Hollyoaks isn't exactly paradise, is it?" Dennis replied. Sunil walked over from the living area to join the conversation. "We're actually best friends from school. We've known each other for like, ten years. We always said when we finished college and uni that we'd go and travel together." Danni explained.

"Oh, right. Where have you been then?" Dennis asked as he shuffled through some letters. Danni looked at Sunil to answer. "Pff, where haven't we been?! Our first trip was Scotland. We've been to New York, Munich, Rome, Madrid, Marseille, Bangladesh, Dubai… Ooh, Tunisia!" Danni and Sunil were almost reeling off memories to each other rather than place names. "Blimey, and now here!" Dennis laughed. "Yeah, we thought it'd be nice to see more of the UK instead of going to places that were like, really exotic." Danni explained. "How did you even afford that? Did you both go to uni? You seem quite young…" Dennis inquired. "We started saving when we first planned it and took out loans. And, we're strippers." Sunil said with a casual expression. Dennis was completely taken aback and looked at Danni in confusion. "Yeah, we've been stripping in clubs since we were like… 17… Good money." Danni nodded. "I-…I-… Strippers, did you say?!" Dennis exclaimed. "Nah, we're joking! Danni's a journalist and I used to be a radio presenter for Gaydio. We both worked a few different jobs over time though." Sunil chuckled. Dennis seemed relieved and took a seat at the table and grabbed the packet of biscuits there and began nibbling at one.

"Is Ste always like this?" Sunil asked in a hushed tone, pointing to the room above where Ste's bedroom was. "Pretty much. Can't really blame him, his life's a mess, if I'm honest." Dennis said as he chewed away at the biscuits. "He told Sunil he's not allowed to see his kids and his husband's dead. Is that true? Surely, he has rights to see them?" Danni asked with a slight hint of disbelief. "Oh, yeah! Is that all he told you? Poor guy's life is an ad for bad experiences. He can tell you himself though, I'm not the type to go 'round telling everyone's stories. It's very, very complicated. But, really, he's a good guy." Dennis straightened up as he spoke. "He just needs to surround himself with the right people and not make the same mistakes again."

The following morning, Danni knocked on Sunil's door to check if he was awake. She peeked in but he didn't seem to be there. She turned around and Sunil jumped out from behind her and whispered "boo!". Danni fell back into Sunil's door and onto the floor. The pair broke out in laughter but tried to stay quiet. "You twat!" Danni breathed as Sunil helped her up. They entered Sunil's room and closed the door so they could speak up a bit. "What's the plan for today then, bitch?" Danni asked as she looked around Sunil's room. "Ugh, I have no idea… I suppose we could just look around, get to know the place… go out for drinks later and _really_ get to know the place!" Sunil suggested. "Alright, let's get dressed then! I'm hungry too so we'll find somewhere for breakfast." Danni said as she made her way to the door. "Will we not just eat here?" Sunil asked. "You can, but I'm not eating out-of-date bread at a sticky kitchen table or drinking tea out of a dirty mug." Danni smiled as she left the room.

Hollyoaks village didn't have a lot to offer, but Sunil and Danni were determined to make this stop as memorable as the rest. "Look," Danni pointed, "there's a pub. _The Dog In The Pond_… Check out that guy outside it sweeping the ground." Danni looked over to see if Sunil was looking but he was looking in the opposite direction. Following his eyeline, she found that he was looking at a warehouse-type building called _The Loft_. A flight of steel stairs took you to the entrance door on the top story. "D'ya reckon that's the nightclub or something?" Sunil asked as he noticed the name of the building was displayed in illuminated letters by the door.

"Yes, it is!" a voice from behind them answered.

Danni and Sunil spun around to see a very attractive woman standing before them. She was dressed in a spotlessly red blazer, a perfectly fitted black pencil-skirt and what appeared to be brand new black high heels.

"I'm the manager, Mercedes. Haven't seen you two around before. We're having an 80s night up there tonight. Gonna be there?" She grinned. "Yeah, sure!" they both answered simultaneously. "Great! See you there. First drink is on the house." Mercedes winked as she strutted off in the direction of the club. "Hm, that's alright… That's our plans for tonight sorted then!" Danni seemed thrilled. "Do we even have anything to wear for an 80s night?" Sunil gasped with sudden panic. "Not really, oh, who cares? They're hardly gonna kick us out if we show up looking fierce. I'm not leaving until I get my free drink, that's for sure." Danni replied as they began to walk again. "There's a place over there that serves food. We'll get something there and then head back to the house. I'm a bit gutted we actually travelled around the whole village in under twenty minutes."

They let themselves back in to the house with Denis' key that he had left on the table for them that morning before leaving to go to a hospital in London again to see Blessing. It was now one o'clock and Ste didn't seem to be out of bed. "Should I go and knock on his door or something?" Sunil asked Danni. "Nah, I'd leave it… Thought you wanted to smash his face in yesterday? Do you fancy him or something? It's only been a day, Sunil!" Danni began laughing. "Oh God, no! I just feel really bad for him, that's all. I mean, to not be able to see your kids and then for your husband to die… He's around the same age as us as well, imagine that happening to us!" Sunil said. "Pfft, I won't be having kids or getting married any time soon! You can bet on that!" Danni proudly promised. They both smiled and took a seat in the living room. "I reckon if we give this place a good clean, Dennis might discount our rent or even give us like a free week. Don't you think?" Danni looked over to Sunil, but he seemed to be lost in thought and looking really worried. Sunil realised he was just asked a question. "Erm, yeah." he replied, not really sure what he was agreeing with.

After picking up some frozen pizzas from _Price Slice_, Sunil came back to the house to find Ste curled up on the couch, chewing the lace on his hoodie as he watched TV absent-mindedly. Sunil quickly dropped the pizzas on the table and walked towards the sofa. "We got some pizzas, if you're hungry." Sunil said as he took a seat. "As long as there's no pineapple on them." Ste responded with little projection.

"Do you want tea or anything? Are you cold? You seem cold-"

"Oh, give it a rest!" Ste tutted.

"Stop talking to me as if I'm some orphan you just found on the street. You don't know me, I don't know you. Stop acting like you care about me." There was a long pause as Ste continued to stare at the TV. They both knew he wasn't really watching it, though.

"I just want to be nice, alright? You told me everything you told me yesterday and I feel bad. That's not my fault! We're going to be living together now for a while so you might as well be civil with me, at least!" Sunil sounded a little more serious than usual. Danni poked her head downstairs to see what was going on. She made a face as if she had just walked in on somebody getting fired from their job and retreated back to her room.

"Please, just talk to me… Tell me everything. I'll be gone in a few days. We'll never see each other again. Danni and I tell each other like, everything. That's why we can deal with it and still be the way we are. Talking about it is the first step to dealing with it. So, if you need to get stuff off your chest, I'm here." Sunil said gently. "Nah, it's alright, agony aunt… You wouldn't be able to handle it." Ste muttered. "If you're like this over what I told you yesterday, you won't want to hear the rest of it."

"It's not about what I want to hear, it's what I think you should say. You clearly haven't really spoken to anyone about it. If you bottle it up, you'll become depressed or end up on drugs or some horrible shit like that." Sunil said calmly. Ste looked slightly under pressure as he continued to chew on his hoodie lace. There was another noticeably long pause as Ste thought for a moment. Finally, he took the lace out of his mouth and let out a long sigh. "Have you ever been in love before?" Ste started. "Not yet." Sunil answered shortly. "Well, don't ever be. It messes you up, proper. You don't stop thinking about it." Ste took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment before continuing.

"The first man I ever loved, the only man I ever loved… Brendan… he-…" Ste began to struggle with his words. "He… he was everything to me. I was everything to him." Ste's lips began to quiver and his head dropped to his chest. "Was Brendan your husband?" Sunil asked, trying to get Ste to look up again. "No… Doug was my husband… I loved him too… It was different, though… Me and Doug could never last. I just needed him there… he really cared about me. It's a long story. I can't believe I'm talking about it with a stranger." Ste clearly didn't want to relive some of these moments but he sat up in confidence that he was going to push through it.

"Brendan's not dead, but he might as well be. I'll probably never see him again." He began to wipe his eyes with his sleeves. Sunil put his hand on his knee as Ste began to open up more and more. Before Sunil could even ask Ste anything else or to allow him to stop entirely, Ste carried on talking. "And then there's John Paul… that… that evil… he was my last hope, really… Everyone else had left me. Nobody trusted me or had any faith in me. Nobody else wanted to be there for me, but he… he made me believe he was there for me…" Ste's face was now beginning to stream and had turned a bright red colour in anger as he had sat up again. "What about your kids? Where are they?" Sunil felt horrible doing this to Ste, but he was finally talking. "They're with their mum… She's a lovely lady, really…" Ste began with a sort of smile. "They're my little angels… Of all the things I've done or messed up in my life, they are the two greatest things I've ever made… Leah and Lucas… They adore me." Ste had to stop once again to mop up some more tears. "It sounds like you really care about them." Sunil reassured him. "I do! With every bit of me!" Ste replied instantly, almost in defence. "Why won't their mother let you see them then?" Sunil asked. Ste looked at the ground and began shaking his head. "I have made too many mistakes and put them in danger too many times. They don't need me when I'm like this. It's not a case of me just not being allowed to see them, they're better off away from me for a while."

"What do you mean by mistakes, though?"

"Just, everything. My stupid mistakes cost me my job, my friends and my kids and I've got to live with that and sort myself out so I can see them again. I shouldn't be around them right now. Not only have I let them down, but I let myself down because I promised I was going to get better for them and I'm still a mess. I will get better, though." Ste gave one final sniff and wiped his eyes once more before curling up again.

Sunil and Ste sat in total silence as the TV murmured in the background. Ste was, again, pretending to watch it as Sunil stared at him, trying to take everything in. "I want to help you do it, I really do." Sunil said after a a few moments. "When me and Danni fight, I have nobody else to turn to. I'm distant with all of my family and I don't have any close friends other than her. Sometimes, I've needed help and I've turned it down and I regret it. Being alone is the worst. You don't have to be alone."

"You'll be gone in a few days. No point helping me out now. I'm a few years worth of work, trust me." Ste half-smiled.

"I could stay. Me and Danni. It would be nice if we just settled down for at least a few weeks or months. We could stay here. I could stay here, for you… It's not like we have a set plan. We're gypsies!" They both continued to sit in silence for another few moments. "We're actually going to go out tonight to _The Loft_ for a few drinks and to check out the men. You should come. You don't have to go crazy or anything… Just, spend some time with me outside of here. We can get to know each other a bit more."

"Nah, I don't think so…" Ste said. "Oh, come on!" Sunil pleaded. "Even just for a few drinks? It's 80s night!" Sunil began to do a goofy dance to try and convince him.

"I would, but I don't think I can actually afford to go out for drinks any more." Ste said slowly with an edge of shame. "It's alright, I want to buy you a drink. Drink's on me." Sunil winked. "So, you'll come?"

Ste looked up, smiled and nodded.


	2. Chapter 2 - It Begins With A Party

"Are you two ready yet?" Ste shouted frustratingly up the stairs as he adjusted the cuffs of his baby-blue shirt with a struggle.

Danni and Sunil hopped their way downstairs, both giggling and fixing their hair one last time. "Ooh, check you out! On the pull tonight, are we?" Sunil nodded at Ste. "Eh, no, I thought we were just spending some time-" Ste mumbled as the two brushed past him towards the door. "Have you got your wallet and phone?" Danni asked Sunil as she opened the door. "Yep. I don't really need my phone. I'll take it just in case I get a load of guys' numbers!" Sunil laughed as they made their way outside.

As a result of the heavy rain from earlier that day, the air was cool and the road was glistening under the streetlights. Danni was struggling to walk on the cobblestone in heels so she made her way over to the footpath. She hummed an upbeat song in excitement as she scrolled through her Twitter newsfeed.

"You're not actually bringing lads home tonight, are you?" Ste tried to say sarcastically, but it came across quite concerned.

Sunil took out his phone too and said, "Well, things happen really quickly and unexpectedly, don't they? One minute you don't like someone and the next, you want them."

A little more quietly, even though Danni could probably hear, Ste asked, "Are you sure you're okay buying me drink?" Danni appeared to have misheard and looked over at Sunil in shock and was jumping to conclusions in her head. She immediately began texting. "Yeah! My treat! I did burn the pizzas earlier so I suppose I have to make it up to you." Sunil laughed. "I actually like burned food sometimes. Like, toast, popcorn, pizza crust… Maybe that's just because I burn food all of the time, too. I used to be a pastry chef, believe it or not. Ha!" Ste chuckled.

Sunil then received a text from Danni. It read, "_is this gonna be a date for you 2? i thought you didn't like him! ;) x_" to which, Sunil texted back, "_oh no haha i'll tell u later! :) x"_

They continued to walk towards _The Loft_, which was lit up and the feint sound of _Call Me_ by Blondie danced through the village and was accompanied by the rustling of the trees. "So, is this a good place to go?" Sunil asked Ste. "Well, yeah, it's alright. It's the only club around here. It used to have a bad rep though… A lot of drugs were being passed around and stuff… There's a few dealers and users around here…" Ste muttered.

"Ugh, drugs. Me and Danni were just talking about this the other day in Wales, weren't we Danni? Do you think you could be with someone who was a druggie? I don't think I could. I mean, if you choose drugs over everything else that's important in life, I couldn't waste my time with someone like that." Sunil proclaimed. "Yeah, like I understand that drugs give you, like, a temporary release from things but there's so many better ways to have a good time or deal with things. Your problems are still there when you sober up." Danni added. Ste had become very silent and was struggling to keep up.

Danni texted Sunil once again. "_i think he likes u, js x_"

Sunil looked at his phone in confusion and then at Danni before replying, "_have u been drinking already haha? we've known each other for a day! what makes u say that?_"

Almost instantly, Danni ended the conversation with, "_well he hasnt stopped staring at you x_".

They climbed the slippery steps of _The Loft_ and made their way past the bouncers. They stood at the entrance and looked around. Some people had followed the theme and dressed in 80s styled clothing but most of the women were in their usual partying gear with one or two small 80s touches. They seemed to be fairly early as it wasn't exactly a deafening club vibe but people were dancing with their drinks and grouped together. Danni noticed a few dirty looks Ste received upon arrival and decided to stand in front of him as they made their way to the bar. A short, menacing-looking blonde woman was working the bar and asked what drinks they wanted, avoiding looking at Ste.

After getting their drinks, Danni began the traditional nudging at Sunil to point out attractive men and they began discussing who might be gay. Ste looked utterly bewildered and appeared as if he had never been there before. "Well, c'mon then, let's go boogie!" Danni said as she dragged Sunil towards the dancefloor by the arm. It seemed as if Ste was about to say something but was too late and turned back to his drink.

A few guys had already started dancing towards Danni and she happily danced with them. She had her hands resting on a man's shoulders and he had his hands on her hips. They laughed and twirled around as the music continued. After realising he was just taking up space on the dancefloor, Sunil made his way back to the bar to find Ste looking really anxious.

"What's the matter?" Sunil had to shout as the place had become more crowded. "I-… I think I'm gonna go." Ste yelled back as he stood up. Sunil put his hand on his shoulder and sat him back down. "I don't think so! You just need to have another drink and chill!" Sunil said as he called the blonde woman back to take another order.

As the night continued, Danni had managed to snog two guys and get both of their numbers. Looking quite proud of herself, she made her way outside to get some fresh air. Standing by the railings, was a tall women with mid-length dark hair and a long, woolen cardigan. "Alright?" Danni giggled as she fumbled through her bag to find a pocket to put the numbers into. "Hello." the woman replied without expression. "It's not bad here, eh? Are you from around here?" Danni shouted quite loudly as her ears hadn't adjusted to the lower volume of the music outside. "Yes, I am." the woman smiled and turned to Danni. "My name is Sienna, what's yours?" she asked. "Danni. I'm new here. Me and a friend were just travelling through and thought we'd stay here for a while. It's quiet, but it's nice!"

The woman looked curiously at Danni for a moment before saying, "You look oddly familiar to me."

Danni finished rummaging through her bag and thought for a moment. "Yeah, you look quite familiar to me, too… That's weird, ain't it? Haha! Maybe we saw each other somewhere abroad before." Danni suggested. Sienna didn't answer, instead she turned back and looked out across the village again. They began to chat a little more before another woman burst outside suddenly and seemed to look really worried. She hurried past Siena and Danni and began making her way down the stairs as fast as she should in her large heels. "Is everything alright, Maxine?" Sienna called after her. There was no response but Sienna now looked really worried, also. "I have to go. That's my stepmother." Sienna said abruptly before sliding past Danni and also making her way down the stairs. Danni looked rather confused but was getting ready to head back inside. Before she could, Ste appeared at the door. He looked as miserable as the day before and just half-smiled at Danni as he leaned against the railings.

"You okay? You look knackered." Danni asked with concern. "Yeah. Fine, thanks. I just can't be in there any longer. Everyone just stares or tries to have a go at me. I just want to go home." Ste said quietly. "I would take you back but I promised this guy I was talking to that I'd come back in for a dance." Danni smiled as she leaned next to Ste. "That was Dodger you were talking to, by the way. He's an alright guy. He's kinda like me, actually." Ste said, looking up. "No offence babe, but he looks like he was carved to perfection by the hand of God." Danni laughed.

"No, I mean, he lost the love of his life at one point, too. The only difference is, he recovered. Look at him, he's able to come out every weekend and move on to better things." There was a moment of silence as Ste continued to stare up at the sky.

"You'll be fine… Trust me. You have me and Sunil now and we're not going to turn away or anything… We're really good mates, you know. Not just with each other, but with other people." Danni assured him. "You'll leave in a few days, though." Ste said almost angrily. "Nah, I don't think so. We spoke about it earlier. We have enough money to go to a few more places but we're honestly just too tired. I think we're going to stay here for a good while. The people are alright here." Danni sighed as she began to look up to the sky, too. "Do you know that woman I was talking to? I think she said her name was Sienna." Danni asked suddenly. Ste smiled and replied, "The crazy baby-snatcher? Yeah, everyone knows that one."

"Baby-snatcher?" Danni now looked at Ste for confirmation.

"Yeah! She bloody went and tried to steal this woman's family from her. She manipulated her husband to turning on his wife and then stole her kids from her. She's a right-"

"She seemed nice, though! Surely there's another side to that?" Danni suggested. "Nah, that's how they get you, don't they? They seem nice, and then, bam. I'd stay away from that one if I were you. You don't have kids or a husband though so you're probably safe."

Sunil now made his way outside. "Oh, I was looking for you two! Not having a romantic moment, are we?" Sunil teased. Danni laughed but Ste replied with "no" as if he was being asked seriously by someone really intimidating. "I was just telling Ste that we're staying here for the foreseeable future." Danni announced as she fixed herself up to get ready to go back inside. "I'll leave you two to it, I have a hunk to dance with!" she beamed as she danced her way back inside.

After the music died down again as the door closed behind Danni, Sunil leaned beside Ste. "You're not enjoying yourself." Sunil began. "Is there someone in there that you have a problem with?"

"Try all of them." Ste said with disgust. "It was a bad idea, coming here." Ste said as he started to move towards the stairs. Sunil grabbed his hand to stop him. "You're being a drama queen. I won't enjoy tonight unless you come back in with me. Do you want to be the reason my first night out here is rubbish?" Sunil joked as he lightly tugged at Ste's hand.

"We'll have a few more drinks and then, we'll go. You're better off showing everyone you can still have a good time without them rather than being like this. That's what they want." Ste thought about it for a moment, sighed and then followed Sunil to the door.

A few drinks later, Ste had loosened up a little bit, but still seemed quite agitated. It was noticeable that everyone was trying to figure out who the two new people were with Ste. One man approached them as he ordered another drink. "What have we got here? New boyfriend?" he grinned as he looked Sunil up and down. "We all know how this one's gonna end, don't we?" he chortled. "Sorry, who do you think you are? Back off." Sunil said as he stood up. They stared at each other before the man gave one final laugh and moved on.

Almost immediately afterwards, a woman (who was the barmaid from earlier, just very drunk) approached Ste and had the same questions. She then tipped her drink over Ste's lap and pretended it was an accident. Danni stood up in fury and slapped the woman straight across the face. You could hear the contact over the music and the rowdy crowd. Although no one really noticed the conflict, the woman and Danni had begun to scratch and rip at each other. Both women had a handful of the other woman's hair. Sunil and Ste pulled the ladies apart as they screamed at each other.

Danni now had a large scrape on her cheek but didn't seem to notice. The other woman was in an even worse state with scrape marks, a ripped blouse and her hair extensions were hanging off of her head. "Serves you right, bitch!" Danni shrieked as Sunil held her back. Ste struggled to keep a hold of the other woman, who clawed at his face several times. The man from earlier returned and punched Ste straight in the jaw, knocking him back. "Assaulting women now too, are we?" he roared. Sunil stood inbetween them and began mouthing off, also. With no surprise, Sunil was also punched to the ground. The man and woman, who appeared to be a couple, laughed and stumbled away as security grabbed Sunil, Danni and Ste and helped them outside. "Get off me!" Ste said as he yanked his arm out of the guard's grasp. "Why are we being kicked out and they're allowed to stay?!" Danni argued in utter rage. The security guards did not answer and simply closed the doors in their faces. "What a joke! Are you two okay?" Danni asked with worry as she began to fix herself once again. Only Sunil replied. Ste was facing the opposite direction but was evidently crying. Danni stood in front of him and wiped the tears off of his face and embraced him. "Bunch of scumbags…" Sunil said as he patted Ste's back. "C'mon, let's head home."

Ste was unsurprisingly dizzy from the punch and was struggling to walk in a straight line. Sunil walked beside him to keep him steady and put him straight on to the couch as soon as they got back to the house. "Lie down, I'm going to get you some water." Sunil said as he made his way to the kitchen. Danni sat with Ste in silence as they waited. "That's why I didn't want to go out tonight." Ste mumbled as he held his head in agony. "It doesn't matter, just forget about it." Danni said softly as she rubbed Ste's leg. Ste tried to sit up, "How am I supposed to just forget about things like that? It's not a once off! It won't be different tomorrow! I'll go back outside tomorrow and people will still be like that with me!" Ste's head spun again from shouting and he had to lie back down. Sunil arrived with a glass of water and a cold beer can for Ste to hold against his head. They all sat in silence until Danni got up a few moments later. "Okay, I'm going to head to bed… Goodnight." She fiddled with her bag and began to stumble upstairs.

"Thanks for standing up for me." Ste's voice was stuck in his throat and took a sip of water. "You didn't have to do that."

"But, I wanted to. I wasn't joking when I said we're going to be here for you. It's the same way me and Danni look out for each other. We're not going to judge you on your past, you know. We both have some pretty messed up pasts of our own but look at all of the things we've done together… It's been one strange day, hasn't it?" Sunil sighed.

"What are you staring at?" Ste asked. "Oh, it's just, your jeans are still wet from that drink. It looks like you've wet yourself, haha." Sunil laughed nervously, slightly embarrassed. "Yeah, well, I am a bit of a baby, aren't I?" Ste laughed.

"I'm sorry for acting the way I did yesterday." he uttered. "It was out of order. I didn't think you two would actually give a toss."

"Well, now you know we do… Dennis was right though, you are alright." Sunil smiled. "Dennis said that?" Ste mumbled in surprise. "Yeah, yesterday! Y'know, after everything you've been through, I'm surprised you're here and coping."

"I'm not coping, though… Not properly, anyways." Ste admitted.

"Well, like, you've managed to remain a good person. You keep to yourself, your head's in the right place, you know what's important, you haven't become an alcoholic or a drug addict-… you're not an alcoholic or a drug addict, are you?" Sunil stopped suddenly. "No, of course not!" Ste said in an unusual tone. Sunil laughed and handed Ste's glass of water to him. He sat up once again and took a larger gulp but was still visibly dizzy.

"You're not going to throw up or anything, are you?" Sunil asked. "I don't think so, why?" Ste replied. But before he could even look at Sunil, Sunil had already leaned in and planted a kiss on Ste's lips.


	3. Chapter 3 - The Morning After

The morning lights pierced through the curtains the next morning and inconveniently stretched onto Danni's face. She turned over in her bed to avoid the irritation but it was too late, she was already awake. No matter how many times she tried to fall back asleep, it wasn't happening so she decided to just get up. It was almost midday already and judging by the silence in the house, she was the first awake. Having a shower now would be a regrettable idea as the pipes made an awful, screeching noise whenever it was turned on.

She put on slippers and made her way downstairs instead to fetch a cup of tea. For a moment, she really thought about how gloomy the house looked even with the heavy light spilling in through the windows. She yawned and took her phone out of her bag which was still sitting on the table. She had one text message from an unknown number.

It read, "_It's Sienna. I got your number from Dodger, my brother who you swapped numbers with last night. It was nice speaking to you and I'm sorry I had to leave. Would you fancy a coffee at 1pm? I'll be in College Coffee. x_"

Danni thought this was really odd and suddenly remembered what Ste had said about her last night. Danni was positive that that story was either exaggerated or just a rumour. She wanted to know more and to figure out why she seemed so familiar. Sunil made his way downstairs and was beaming like the sun outside. "Morning. You alright?" Danni asked as she pushed a chair out from under the table. "Yes! Good night last night, weren't it?" he replied, stretching and letting out a deep yawn. "I got a text from that girl, Sienna. She got my number from that bloke I swapped numbers with and she wants to meet me for a coffee. Is that odd or am I just not used to casual get-togethers like that?" Danni questioned. "Hm, it sounds harmless to me. It might actually be a good idea to start socializing with the locals seeing as we're staying here. You can test out the coffee place for me actually and let me know how good it is. Might be a nice date spot." Sunil winked.

After they devoured a hungover breakfast and cleaned up the entire kitchen, Danni decided to go and get ready for meeting with Sienna. She passed Ste on the stairs and said "g'morning" to which, she received a half-groan, half-yawn. Ste was still holding his head and flexing his jaw after the punch from last night. "I smelled sausages so I decided to come down." Ste grumbled. "Luckily, I made a few extra. They're over there." Sunil pointed by the microwave using the knife he was drying. They carried on about their own business until Ste broke the awkward silence.

"Can I talk to you about last night?" he started. Sunil didn't answer but he turned his head and raised his eyebrows as he continued to dry dishes. "Was that the alcohol acting out or… did you mean it?" Ste asked slowly. There was a pause. Sunil thought about trying to pretend like he didn't know what he was talking but there was no point.

"Well, was that the dizzy head or did you mean it?" Sunil smiled at him but he looked even more confused. "Of course I meant it," Sunil added, "I thought about it all night last night and it was the first thing I thought about this morning. Why? Do you regret it?"

"No… It's just… it happened quite fast, that's all." Ste replied after a moment. The microwave beeped repeatedly and Ste reached in to take out his plate of sausages. The plate, however, was piping hot and caused Ste to drop the plate, which smashed. He began swearing and shaking his burned fingers around. "You're not wearing any socks! Stay there, I'll get the dustpan and sweeper." Sunil rushed off and returned a moment later. "Sorry…" Ste let out in a small voice.

Danni walked in to _College Coffee_ and was instantly in love with the strong aromas and the simplicity of the entire place. She looked around and spotted Sienna sitting at a table by the window. Sienna gave a small wave and a smile and Danni walked over to her. "You're right on time!" Sienna grinned. "Yeah, I've been craving coffee all morning, we have none at the house!" Danni laughed as she hung her jacket on the back of her seat and sat down. "So, how are you?" she asked immediately. "Hmm, could be better. I just thought it would be nice if we got to know each other, seeing as you're new here." Sienna said blankly. They carried on speaking for a few minutes but during the entire conversation, Danni couldn't help but hear everything Ste had said instead of what Sienna was saying. "Shall I order us a drink, then?" Sienna suggested as she began to stand up. "Um, yes please! Just a regular coffee for me, please. White." Danni answered.

Sienna returned with a tray and their coffees and began talking about how the woman in front of her in the queue was taking a stupidly long time to decide what she wanted to order. Danni just barely laughed and began sipping her coffee. "So, tell me a bit about yourself." Sienna requested as she, too, began sipping her coffee. Sienna seemed really interested in what Danni had to say and remained quiet with a small smile on her face.

"Well, I grew up in Essex with my mum, got a degree in journalism and I'm now a freelance journalist who loves to travel! My best friend, Sunil, went to school with me and we've been close mates the whole time. We always said we wanted to go travelling after school so, we did. We wanted to take a few months to settle somewhere and we chose here." Danni seemed to be unable to look away from Sienna who remained with the exact same facial expression. She simply responded a moment later with, "Why here?"

"Well, partially because we wanted to stay in a small village because we were so used to cities but also because… I never knew my dad. My mum never really spoke about him because she knew very little about him. But, recently on the phone, she said she knew where he was. He's here, somewhere. I've come to find him." Danni announced in a more serious tone. "Oh, wow. Have you any clues as to what his name might be or what he does?" Sienna asked. "His name is Patrick. He works in the education system, but I don't know what sort of job it is. I don't have a picture of him and I doubt he has a picture of me. My mum never saw him again after he found out she was pregnant. She tried writing to him but no response… I do know that he was married at the time and already had kids. My mum didn't know until afterwards, though." Danni trailed off in thought as Sienna's face had turned very sharp and her jaws were clenched. "I'm sure you'll find him. Everyone knows everyone here. I wonder who it could be…" Sienna stared out of the window. The change on her face was noticeable now.

Back at the house, Sunil and Ste remained quite awkwardly silent and just occasionally gave a smile to each other when they caught the other staring at them. Ste carried a pile of his clothes to his room and began putting them away. As he opened a drawer to place his fresh underwear inside, he found something he forgot he had, a small bag of cocaine. A flush of panic rushed through his body as he knew this was the last bag he had to sell in order to get the dealers off of his back once and for all. It would have to be quick, discreet and somewhere no one would see him. His usual alleyway spot was no longer suitable as CCTV cameras had been installed after word got out that dealings were going on. He held the bag in his hand and wanted to throw it out of the window and pretend it was never there. He shoved it right to the back of the drawer and placed a few pairs of underwear over it and calmly closed the drawers.

He turned around to see Sunil standing in the doorway. He felt utter panic and tried to hide it from his face, hoping Sunil hadn't just seen the little white bag. "You forgot some t-shirts." Sunil said, noticing Ste's rapid breathing. "Is everything okay?" he asked. "Yeah, yeah of course… thanks. You just… gave me a fright…" Ste forced himself to calm down as he realized he hadn't seen anything. Ste smiled and took the t-shirts from him. Sunil grabbed his arm and Ste began to panic again. Maybe he did see something. Sunil just smiled and said "you're welcome" before giving Ste another kiss and leaving the room. A butterfly war was taking place in Ste's stomach. His nervousness had caused his palms to start to sweat but he was feeling calm and bubbly from the kiss, too. He sat down on the end of his bed and started massaging his sore head.

Danni returned home later that evening and was shortly followed by Dennis, who was looking rather relieved and in control. He greeted everyone and then announced that Blessing's operation was going really well and he had just returned to collect some clean clothes and other "bits and bobs" to get her through the rest of the procedure. He left almost as quickly as he arrived once he gathered another rucksack of Blessing's belongings. "Can't wait to meet her, actually." Danni shouted to Sunil, who was in the kitchen. "Apparently, she's a proper party animal, too. I reckon she knows a few good clubs around." Sunil joined Danni in the living area and sat on the opposite couch. "How was coffee?"

"Oh, I need to tell you something about that, actually. Right, Sienna is really nice and she seemed really interested in my past when I mentioned it." Danni began. "What do you mean?" Sunil looked utterly confused. "Like, you know how we came here to maybe look for my dad? She was _really_ interested in that. We actually spoke about it for a while. Do you reckon she knows who it might be?" Danni asked with a hint of excitement. "I dunno, maybe she does. Didn't you ask her?" Sunil inquired. "No… I should have, to be honest… I have plenty of time to ask her, though!" Danni beamed.

That night, Ste was alone on the couch and was watching his usual TV shows. He jumped when he heard movement behind him in the kitchen. It was just Sunil. "I thought you were in bed?" Ste said, holding his chest from fright. "I heard the TV so I guessed you were still down here… and I'm thirsty." Sunil replied as he carried a glass of water to the couch and took a seat right next to Ste. Sunil sat back and stared at his glass. "Is your head feeling any better?" he asked. "Pretty much. I'm feeling better in general, really." Ste answered. There was silence as Ste just stared at their knees touching. "Would it be weird if I asked for a hug?"

Sunil turned his head to meet Ste's eyes. "A hug?" Sunil had a mixture of confusion and a smile on his face. "Well, yeah… I haven't had a proper one in a long time… You just kind of miss it sometimes without realising."

"Ha, you poor thing! Do you want like, a cuddle hug or a proper hug?" Sunil asked as he sat up and turned towards Ste. They both laughed at themselves; then Ste replied, "a proper one". They embraced and remained there for a few moments. Ste had stopped laughing and just allowed himself to feel close to someone again in a way he hadn't in quite some time.

"I think I really like you, Ste." Sunil said in a hushed tone suddenly. "I think I really like you, too." Ste replied before burrowing deeper into Sunil's shoulder and neck.


	4. Chapter 4 - Change Is Coming

A few days had passed and Danni had not heard anything from Sienna. She had sent her a short text to ask her how she was but she received no reply. As Danni sat at the kitchen table early that afternoon, however, her phone did eventually light up as she had received a text from her.

It read, "_Hey, sorry I took so long to reply. A lot is happening at our house. Maxine has just left my dad with the baby and it has just been quite hectic. Hope you understand. Want to grab some late lunch today? The Hutch is a nice spot. I'll be there at 4pm. X_"

Danni could understand Sienna's sudden silence although she couldn't help but wonder why it took her so long just to text back. She was just eager to find out if Sienna knew anything about who her father might be. The image of Sienna's face when she learned that Danni was looking for a man named Patrick kept flashing through her head. There couldn't be many people in a village with the name Patrick who worked in education. As Sienna said, everyone knew everyone. Immediately, she rushed upstairs to get ready for another meeting with Sienna who possibly had the answers to all, or at least some, of her questions.

Ste and Sunil had remained close through conversation but were yet to decide on what was going on between them. They had kissed once again at the bottom of the staircase but still couldn't sit beside each other when watching TV. Some sort of wall or boundary was building up that they could not explain because there were moments when those boundaries had completely disappeared. They both wanted to be able to sit beside each other comfortably but, as mentioned, they were still unsure about where it was going. Sunil was what Ste needed right now. Stability and support.

Ste approached him in the kitchen after spending the day in his room trying to figure out what he was going to say next and how he was going to say it. "Hey… Do you need a hand with any of that?" Ste began as he noticed the small mountain of dishes that had built up once again. "Um, yes please, actually. You can dry." Sunil handed him a towel and turned back to his dishes and continued scrubbing. There was no point in letting these pauses continue whenever they tried to talk about what was going on between them so Ste was determined to tackle the question head on.

"Are we a couple?"

He immediately thought about how it came across in that moment and seemed confident with it. Sunil sighed and looked at him. "You said it was happening too fast. I don't want it to feel that way. We both said we like each other and we've kissed… It doesn't feel like we are, though." Sunil had a tone that was a fusion of disappointment and vexation. "Well, what do we do then because I feel like I want-… I need what I can't have." A lump had formed in Ste's throat as he spoke, realising there was a lot of things he needed but he couldn't have. "I don't want this to feel forced. We've known each other for a little under a week. There's an obvious connection but we need to, I dunno, get to know each other, I guess." Sunil said as he put down the final washed plate and pulled off his rubber gloves.

"What, like, a date?" Ste raised his eyebrow.

They both grinned at each other and started laughing. "Yeah, that sounds about right… Steven Hay, will you go on a date with me?" They began to laugh again. "I will. Only if you tell me where and when." Ste moved closer to him.

"Well, _The Hutch_ is an utterly repellent idea so how about I take you into town and we find somewhere really nice?" Sunil replied in a much more flirty way.

"Hmm, fancy! What does 'repellent' mean, though?"

Sunil laughed again and pulled Ste into his arms. "It means not you." He answered as he began kissing him. Ste threw his towel down and grabbed Sunil's face and began kissing him back.

Sienna did not show up at all later that day and missed Danni's phone call. Danni headed home in pure puzzlement. She was alone as Dennis had left to bring Blessing home and the boys had already left for their date. She threw her bag on the couch and plumped herself down. That same second, there was a heavy knock on the door. Because it was dark outside and the knock came so soon after she got home, she couldn't help but wonder if someone had followed her home. She tried to make out the tall figure's silhouette that was at the door through the wavy glass window but no one came to mind other than Sunil. She opened the door slowly.

"Hello. Is your name Danni?"

It was a man of about six foot. He was dressed sharply and had a charming smile on his face that did not match the hint of fury in his eyes. "Er, yes." Danni almost whispered. Before she knew it, the door was pushed with force and she was thrown back. She managed to keep her balance but this unknown man had already closed the door behind him and grabbed her by the hair. He slammed her against the wall and held him forearm across her neck and used his knee to pin her legs against the wall. Danni wasn't able to voice a decent scream because of the pressure applied to her throat.

"What have you told my daughter?" he breathed. Danni was struggling to breath but barely managed to answer. "What are you talking about? Get off me, you're hurting me!" But the man increased his weight on his forearm. "My daughter, Sienna. What did you tell her? Why are you here?" His voice was becoming louder and the fury in his eyes became more intense. She noticed a pattern of red scratch marks along the side of his face. Realising she had to answer quickly otherwise she would put herself in serious danger, Danni answered, "I came-… here to look-… for my… dad! Please-… let me go!"

"You listen to me right now. You are going to leave this village tonight and if I ever see you here again, I will kill you." He lessened the pressure on her throat but the threat only heightened. "You're Patrick, aren't you?" Danni gasped. He didn't answer. He looked at her face in utter disgust as he saw himself in her features. "Tell your whore of a mother to never contact me again. She was a mistake and she cost me my marriage." he spat as he finally let go of Danni. Danni fell to the floor as she tried to regain a steady breath. He straightened himself up and made his way to the door.

"What about Sienna? Where is she?" Danni shouted after him. He turned to look at her as he opened the door. "If you mention this to anyone, you and Sienna will be two very sorry women. Stay out of our lives, you little rat." He flashed one final look of loathing at her and slammed the door. She froze as her breath began to come back to her but she began to cry. That was her father. That was also Sienna's father. Sienna was her half-sister. She must have known this too when she told her that her father's name was Patrick. Why didn't she say anything? What did she say to Patrick? So many questions were swimming around in her head. She wasn't sure whether to presume she was in danger but she clearly didn't even have access to her own phone. Worry began to build in her chest. Not just for herself but for her newly discovered half-sister who she may never get to see again.

Sunil and Ste returned home later that night and had evidently had a great time. They both chuckled as they threw their jackets by the door. They found Danni in the living area on the couch. She had obviously been crying. Sunil rushed over to her and asked her what was wrong. Danni hadn't thought about what she was going to do or to say. She knew for her safety she had to leave but she wanted to find out what had happened to Sienna. In the spur of the moment, she responded, "Oh, my mother called earlier… Aunt Sue is really ill… I'm so close to her so I just got really upset." She hiccupped as she spoke and took a tissue out of her pocket and began blowing her nose. Sunil grabbed her hand in sympathy. "Do you want us to go back and see her? We can get a taxi tomorrow or something!" he suggested. "Oh, no, it's fine. I think she'll be okay, I just worry a lot…" Danni knew this wasn't the most convincing act. She knew Sunil knew her better than anyone else. Aunt Sue had taken them out many times together so he knew Danni would have probably already left to go and see her by now.

"Well, if you change your mind or if she gets worse, just tell me and we'll go, okay?" Sunil squeezed her hand and she just smiled back and nodded. "So, how was it?" she said to try and change the subject. "How was what?" Sunil seemed confused for a moment. Danni looked at him and then to Ste. "Oh, it was alright, I suppose…" Sunil sighed. "Alright, you suppose?!" Ste cackled from behind. They both laughed again. "Nah, just joking. It was great. We just had dinner in this really fancy place… I taught Ste a few new words… we ordered desert… It was lovely!"

"Don't forget to mention our little conversation during that walk!" Ste reminded him as he sat down beside him with a handful of peanuts he got from the kitchen. Sunil appeared to not know what he was talking about. "Fine, I'll tell her. Right, so we were walking back to the bus stop and he was proper romantic about it but he was like, 'So, are we boyfriends now?' and I was like, 'Well, you did pay for that so I guess you can be my boyfriend'!" he laughed as he shovelled a handful of peanuts into his mouth. Danni merely smiled but they both understood that she was upset and decided not to question it. "That's great!" she forced, "I'm going to go to bed now, I think. I'm exhausted and my head is pounding." she said as she got up and headed for the stairs. "How was your meeting with Sienna?" Sunil swiftly asked. She was hesitant but badly vocalised a "fine" (due to the trauma her throat had been through) before lugging herself upstairs.

The boys quickly turned back to each other and grinned before beginning to kiss again. "So, where are you going to sleep tonight?" Sunil asked in-between kisses. "Well, I need to wash my bed sheets because I haven't in a while so I guess I'm sleeping in your bed." Ste chortled. "You're becoming repellent, Ste!"

They rushed upstairs and couldn't even wait to get into Sunil's room. They were all over each other in the hallway. Sunil pulled him back by the arms to get a word in. "Let me brush my teeth and I'll follow you in!" he winked. "Brush your teeth? You're so proper." Ste teased. "I'm hygienic and I don't want to be toothless by the time I'm forty!"

"Well, maybe I want to brush my teeth then, too!" Ste winked as he followed him into the bathroom.

They left the lights off as they began to strip each other and fell into Sunil's bed. "How far is this going to go?" Sunil asked as he grabbed Ste's hands. Ste got on top and continued to kiss his neck. "Whatever you're comfortable with." He answered but he was too busy making his way all around Sunil's face, neck and shoulders.

"Well, I don't usually have sex on first dates but you're bringing on a lot of change in me." Sunil whispered into his ear. Ste jumped off of him and rushed to the other end of the room in panic as if gunshots were being fired through the window. "What's wrong?!" Sunil sat up in panic, also.

"I'm just getting condoms! The way you just said that has me ready to go!" Ste panted back. Sunil could hear him frantically fumbling with a box and a packet and just laid back and started laughing. "You've gone from repellent to utterly unbearable!" A few moments later, Ste returned to the bed as he felt his weight on top of him again. Ste began kissing him softly again before they let the excitement that built up over the week take control.


	5. Chapter 5 - Truths and Secrets (Part 1)

Danni had barely slept the night before. When she wasn't crying from confusion and stress of recent events, she was trying to make her mind up about the options she was given from Patrick. His violent visit from the day before was now etched in her memory. This man was her biological father and Sienna was her half-sister. The look on Patrick's face as he told her he would kill her, his secret daughter, if she didn't leave and basically forget about everything. She couldn't forget, not now. She wasn't sure she could leave, either. She had to do something. She stood by the sink all morning, refilling a glass of water and sipping at it until it was gone repeatedly.

"How long have you been up?" Sunil's voice from the stairs behind made her jump. She turned around with a false smile glued to her face. "Oh, since like, half-past eight, or something… I barely slept!"

Sunil froze. "We didn't keep you up last night, did we?" His face lit up in red with embarrassed. "Who?" she replied, slightly puzzled. "Me and Ste!" he whispered, pointing back upstairs. She pieced the puzzle together in her head. "Oh! Oh, no, not at all! I was just worried about Aunt Sue, that's all."

"Oh, phew! I mean, not 'phew', you know I'm worried about her too. You know what I meant!" he rambled. She forced another smile and turned back to the sink and continued to sip her water. She had no idea what to do about Patrick and pushed herself to think harder for a solution. She couldn't contact the police because she had no proof of anything that could be happening to Sienna. She couldn't call her mother because there was nothing she could really do. She was going to have to take matters into her own hands and confront Patrick once again. She would have to be alone and do it in a way that didn't put her in any danger. She had to visit his flat. As crazy as it sounded, it was her only option if she wanted answers and if she wanted to see Sienna again.

Sunil prepared a breakfast tray made up of four slices of toast (with butter and a large amount of jam, the way Ste liked it), tea (with two sugars and a generous amount of milk) and an orange (because it was the only fruit that was in the house). He carried it carefully up the stairs to his room. Ste was still fast asleep and was snoring softly as Sunil creaked the door open. He set the tray down beside the bed and crawled in and started to try and nudge him awake. "Ste, I've made you breakfast. Ste!" he began to shake him harder. Ste just groaned and rolled over. "Wake up, you lazy sod. Come on! Don't make me open the curtains! I know it's cruel but your toast will go cold and hard." There was still no response. Ste continued to snore and was now hanging off the edge of the bed. "Right, you leave me no choice." Sunil hopped back out of the bed and marched to the curtains and threw them open, allowing an ocean of blinding light to crash in. It even made Sunil squint his eyes a little bit. Ste threw his arms over his face and began swearing as he tried to sit up. "I'm sorry, but I had to!" Sunil shrugged.

He lifted the tray onto Ste's lap and got back into the bed beside him. Ste looked down groggily at the tray. "Four slices? You're spoiling me already. Trying to fatten me up, are we?" Ste croaked with a morning voice. He let out a long yawn and stretched his arms out before rubbing his eyes and tucking in. "That was the best sleep I've had in a long time and you ruined it!" he joked as he chomped off almost half of the first slice of toast. "Shut it, you! Blessing got back really late last night with Dennis! They're still in bed but at least they're back!" Sunil said. "Yeah, you'd want to watch out for that Blessing one. Now that she's a physical 'she', there'll be no stopping her." Ste replied as he put down his toast and began glugging his tea. Sunil latched on to Ste's arm and began kissing his shoulders. "What's the plan for today, then?" he asked. "Well, we could stay in bed all day… Unless, you've got any better ideas."

"Why were you fired from _The Hutch_?" Sunil asked out of nowhere. Ste had completely stiffened up. He didn't know how to respond. He couldn't tell him about being fired because he sold drugs through the restaurant, not now. Not after everything was beginning to level out. What had lying done for him in the past, though? What had it done for anyone? Maybe he had to come clean. His mind was with the small bag of cocaine he still had buried behind his underwear in his room that he was yet to sell. He didn't have to mention that. That would soon be gone.

"Err, I'll tell you, but promise you won't flip off on one?" Ste started. Sunil let go of his arm and sat up and looked quite worried. Ste was hesitant to start talking but he swallowed the lump growing in his throat and just went for it. "I u-used to be… I used to be on d-drugs." He paused for a moment and looked to see if Sunil's face was going to change. It hadn't, so he carried on. "I was using them to cope but I'm not using them anymore, I swear. I was in a lot of trouble with dealers and I was selling them through the restaurant but I promise you, I have had nothing to do with drugs since and I never will again. You do believe me, don't you?" Ste was almost begging Sunil not to turn on him now.

"You promise me you don't take them anymore? No more selling, no more using?" Sunil was firm and was scrutinizing every facial expression and eye movement. "Yes, I-I promise! I know you said you don't want to be with a druggie and I'm not anymore! I'm trying to get trust back so I can see my kids. I'm trying really hard to change!" he pleaded. Inside, he hated himself because he knew he was lying to the face of someone who was about to trust him. He was regretting every lie that left his mouth but he couldn't mention the one last bag of cocaine in his room. No one would believe he was just selling it. He stared at Sunil's face and tried with all of his might to hide any sign of dishonesty as he waited for a reply. After a moment, Sunil smiled with pity and kissed him on the forehead. "I know you're going to get better… for the kids. Come on, eat up. I've got a surprise for you." he winked as he climbed out of the bed and headed to the bathroom to shower. Ste sat there and felt sick. He couldn't finish the rest of his breakfast so he left the tray on the floor and thumped the wall in anger.

Danni dragged her feet as she approached the flats where her father was currently keeping her half-sister locked up like a prisoner in her own home. She remembered that Maxine had left Patrick with her baby and now she was starting to realise why. A woman was just entering the flat's building so Danni rushed through the door also because she didn't have a key for the building. She remembered Sienna said that she lives on the top floor so she made her way up the stairs until she reached the final floor. There was only three doors to choose from so she started with the one at the back. She knocked and waited. Her stomach felt like it had just dropped to her knees and her hands began to become clammy. She took a deep breath as the door opened. It was Patrick.

He looked furious and kept the door closed enough so she couldn't see anything behind him. "What do you want? I told you to leave here!" he growled in a hushed tone. "I want to see Sienna! Why hasn't she answered my calls or texts?" Danni tried to sound as intimidating as she could but she could not help but cower every time Patrick made a movement of any sort. His towering build and bitter face would terrify anyone. "I'm going to give you one last chance to leave and if you don't, I will keep my promise." he hissed. "I'm not leaving until I see Sienna. I will call the police." Danni stood her ground as she watched the hatred build up in his eyes. Just like the night before, Danni didn't see it coming, but Patrick grabbed her by the hair and pulled her into the flat. She screamed as he slammed the door behind them. She stumbled back and immediately reached for her phone in her bag. Patrick quickly snatched it from her and grabbed her by the upper arm and began to move her towards the sofa. He threw her there and left the bag out of reach.

"I told you to stay away. I gave you enough chances. If you don't want to stay away then you can stay here." he said as if he was the voice of reason.

A voice came from another room. "Danni?! Danni, is that you?! Dad, what have you done to her?! Let me out!" It was Sienna and the panic only intensified in Danni.

"That reminds me, actually." Patrick said as a sadistic smile began to appear on his face. He made his way to the kitchen, keeping a close eye on Danni as she sat in total fear on the couch. He rustled through one of the drawers and pulled out some rope. Danni's eyes widened in shock and she didn't know whether to scream or to try and run. He walked slowly towards her and kept the menacing grin on his face. "You know, my entire life, I've always enjoyed being a man... I love that I get to control women… They are supposed to follow the rules made by their men. If you're married, you do exactly as your husband asks you. You should always listen to your father, too." He looked back at the room where Sienna's voice was coming from. "Every woman I get control of… always breaks my rules. We can't have that, can we?" he whispered as he began to play with Danni's hair.

"You're sick, you are!" Danni shouted. Patrick laughed it off and then grabbed her by the throat. She began swinging her arms, trying to land a hit on his face so she could get away. He smacked her and turned her over on the couch. He pressed his knee onto her lower back so she couldn't move. She began to scream for help and Sienna began to scream, too. He tied her two hands together tightly behind her back and lifted her off of the couch by her hair and began to walk her over to the room where Sienna was. He unlocked the door and threw it open. It was a very small, dark room that appeared to be a boiler room. It was very hot inside and there was little space to move around. Sienna was sat in the corner of the room with her hands tied behind her back, also. She was wearing the same clothes she wore when she met Danni at _College Coffee_ and her face was sunken and red from crying. Before Danni could speak, Patrick threw her mercilessly to the ground beside her half-sister and slammed the door shut before locking it. They were left in complete darkness.

"I'm so sorry, Danni! I'm truly so sorry! You should have stayed at home!" Sienna began breathlessly. "It's okay, Sienna, we're going to be okay!" Danni replied without believing in a word she had just said. "What happened? Why is he doing this?" Danni continued as she began to cry with panic. "I knew at the café, I knew he was your dad! As soon as you said 'Patrick', I knew! I didn't want to tell you because I needed to confront him first! He has put me through so much and I had to tell him how much I hated him! I was going to come and tell you straight after, I swear I was!" She was crying now, too. "What did you say to him that made him do this to you?!" Danni breathed, searching for her sister's face in the pure darkness. "I told him I hated him and that I had just met you and everything you told me! I began to hit him and I just lost it! He's a monster! He never hit me before but he punched me and then threw me in here! He's not my father anymore! We have to get out of here!" Sienna sobbed. They were both cramped enough as it was so trying to move around was bringing on more panic. "Have you been here this whole time?!" Danni panted. "Yes! He's been throwing me in water and some food but we have to keep it down, he hurts me whenever I get too loud!" she replied. They both began to cry even more and tried to shuffle their way beside each other so they could rest heads on each other. The inability to see the shortness of the room made it feel even smaller but at the same time, it was like an endless darkness that they could never escape.


	6. Chapter 6 - Truths and Secrets (Part 2)

*This is set on the same day as "Truths and Secrets (Part 1)"*

"What was that surprise you said you had for me?" Ste asked as put his hands on Sunil's waist. "Will I need a shower again afterwards?" he laughed as he leaned in for a kiss. Sunil, however, put his hands on Ste's chest to hold him back. "Not exactly, you're going to need to come with me, though so get a jacket."

Ste followed him through the village until they stopped outside _The Hutch_. "What are we doing here, then? We already had some food." Ste looked bewildered. Sunil rolled his eyes and dragged him inside. Tony, the owner and Ste's former boss, was drying glasses by the bar. Ste had once co-owned the establishment and built it from scratch with Tony. He sold his half of the business to aid his financial struggles. Sunil pushed Ste gently towards the bar and cleared his throat to get Tony's attention. "Can I help you?" Tony asked.

"Yes, actually. I wanted to ask you if you could give Ste his job back." Sunil said confidently. Ste spun around in horror. "Are you mad?" he whispered. Sunil ignored him and waited for an answer from Tony. "I don't think so, mate. Besides, we have enough staff at the moment." Tony tried to look sympathetic but wasn't doing a very good job. Ste stood there like a stroppy child and kept trying to leave, only to be pulled back by Sunil.

"I know things haven't been that great in the past with Ste but I'm begging you, please! He needs this job." Sunil pleaded. "Keep it down, will ya?" Ste whispered again, looking around insecurely at the customers who didn't seem to notice. Sunil leaned towards Tony and spoke in a lowered tone. "He's trying to earn some trust back. He needs to see his kids. You're his friend, come on! He just wants a second chance. You can hold me personally responsible if he mucks up again." Sunil continued to plead. Ste looked utterly furious but stayed quiet to hear what Tony had to say.

Tony sighed and looked at Ste. "I'm going to give you this one last chance, you hear me? If there's any more funny business from you that puts this business or my family in danger again, you're out for good! Not just from here, but from my life. You understand me?" Tony warned. Ste was dry-mouthed but nodded in agreement. "You can start tomorrow at four. I don't want you in the kitchen or in the back just yet so you can just clean up and take orders for a while, got it?" Tony knew Ste needed this and Sunil was about to burst with joy. "Thank you!" Sunil whispered loudly as he skipped out of the restaurant after Ste.

They left the restaurant and Ste immediately kicked off. "What was that all about, eh?! What do you think you're playing at?!" He began to storm off but Sunil followed right after him. "Excuse me, but I just got you your job back! On planet Earth, we say 'thank you'! You could at least start with that!" he bellowed. Ste knew he was right and continued to stomp his way back to the house. He ignored Sunil shouting after him and went straight to his room when they got back to the house. Sunil couldn't understand Ste's issue with the situation. He allowed him to help him and seemingly wanted him to help him but this is the reaction he got to some major help. He decided not to follow Ste to his room and took a seat on the couch instead to watch TV and forget about it.

"Oi! Don't you even think about turning on that TV! _Geordie Shore_ is coming on in a minute and it's a big episode tonight!"

Sunil whipped around and saw, who was presumably Blessing, rushing over to the living area from the kitchen. She tried to run in her absurdly large heels and colourful, flowing dress. Her wild, bushy hair bounced uncontrollably as she moved. She snatched the remote from his hands and took a seat next to him. "Sorry, but I can't miss it. You must be Sunil, I'm Blessing." she said as she tried to catch her breath. Sunil wasn't sure if she was out of breath from running or from the speed she spoke at. Sunil stared at her in utter amazement. "Congratulations on your operation." he said as she flicked excitedly through the channels. "Thanks," she smiled, "I'm still really, really sore down below. Do you know how they do it? They split your foreskin and turn it in on itself to mimic vagina flaps and-"

"Oh, that's okay, you don't need to tell me!" Sunil interrupted. Blessing looked quite disappointed for a moment but turned straight back to the TV as her show was about to start. "I'm going to make tea, do you want some?" Sunil asked as he began to get up. "No thanks, babe!" she chirped. Dennis appeared at the stairs and was as loopy-faced as his girlfriend. "Oh, you've met Blessing, have ya? Isn't she gorgeous?" Dennis beamed. Sunil nodded in agreement and tried to get all of the surgical images out of his head as he began to make tea. He thought about making a second cup to bring upstairs to Ste. As the kettle clicked when the water was boiled, he decided to take out a second cup.

He knocked gently on Ste's bedroom door and received no response. He opened the door anyways and carried the tray with their tea inside. Ste was laying on his bed with his eyes closed. He had music playing quite loudly in his earphones and couldn't have heard the knocking. Sunil left the tea on his bedside locker and bent over and kissed him on the lips. Ste jumped with fright and began to swear as he yanked the earphones out of his ears and shuffled with his phone to turn the music off. "What was that for?!" he roared. "I'm sorry," Sunil chuckled, "I shouldn't have done that! I'm sorry! You were like _Sleeping Beauty_ so I had to!" he took a seat next to Ste on the bed.

"What do you want?" Ste grumbled. "I brought you some tea." Sunil replied. Ste chose not to look at Sunil so he left the tea on the bedside locker. "I'm really sorry about earlier, really, I am. I was just trying to help like you wanted me to." Ste remained silent. "Please talk to me. Why are you upset?" Sunil asked, nudging Ste's shoulder. "I don't know, I felt like I was being treated like a child or something. I felt like a child being told off. I just wasn't expecting that." He still refused to look at Sunil and continued to fiddle with his earphones. "Again, I'm sorry. I just _really _want this for you. A week ago, I was making fun of you with Danni. Now, I really care about you, whether you want to believe it or not. I said I was going to help you and I saw that as helping you. When I hear you talking about Leah and Lucas, my heart breaks. It's so difficult to listen to so I can't imagine what it's like to be their dad. That's what made me want to do what I did. Don't you understand that?" Ste turned to face Sunil and was beginning to cry. "You remembered their names?" Sunil began to laugh and squeezed Ste's hand. "Of course I do! Listen to me, you can use this opportunity to earn some trust back from everyone. You need to show this village that you have changed. I'm going to be here to support you all the way but you have to let me support you." Ste wiped his eyes with his arm and looked down at Sunil's hand, holding his.

"You're the best, you know that?" he smiled. "Took you long enough to see!" Sunil laughed. Ste rested his head on his shoulder and sighed. "I'm such an idiot," he snivelled, "no one would ever have thought to do that for me and I threw it back in your face."

"It's okay, honestly." Sunil cooed as he massaged Ste's hands. "So, what was this about making fun of me when you first met me?" Ste suddenly asked. He lifted his head off of Sunil's shoulder and grinned in his face. "I thought you were a bit of a tool, if I'm honest. Turns out I was half-right." Sunil teased. The two began to kiss each other once again; a little more passionately and seriously than before. They were interrupted, however, by Dennis.

He knocked and entered straight away. "Sorry, does anyone know where Danni is? I was about to lock up but I don't know if she has a key." he asked. Ste and Sunil looked at each other in confusion. "She didn't say where she was going, actually. I'm sure she has a key. I'll text her just in case." Sunil replied as he reached into his pocket for his phone. He left her a text asking her where she was. Almost immediately, he received a reply.

"_I just caught up with Sienna, I'm staying the night at hers! Don't bother expecting me home at a certain time, I'm not sure but I'll let you know if there are any problems! X_"

Sunil read the text aloud and closed his phone off. Dennis simply nodded and left the room. Sunil looked quite unsure and read the text once more. "What's wrong?" Ste asked. "Danni never texts like that, we always text in text language… This is all proper and correct… Look, the spelling and grammar is all perfect… Oh, well! I'm sure she's alright if she replied so fast!" Sunil shrugged as he closed his phone off and threw it to the end of the bed.

"Want that tea, then?" he asked. Ste simply replied with "nah" and threw himself onto Sunil again and began kissing him once more.


	7. Chapter 7 - Caught and Captured

Sunil awoke early the next morning (as a result of Blessing's over-the-top shower singing) and turned over to face Ste, who was still in a deep sleep. He debated in his head whether he should wake him or not for a few moments but the temptation was too strong. Sunil was quickly learning that waking Ste Hay up in the morning was going to take many attempts and methods before there was any sort of movement or sound from his new boyfriend. He poked his face several times and laughed but there was no result. He reached under the covers and rested his cold hands on Ste's warmer body and there was still no movement whatsoever.

Sunil thought about pouring a glass of water over his head or bringing Blessing into the bedroom to deliver one of her vocal performances but both seemed equally cruel. Instead, he resorted to kissing him repeatedly around his face. Surprisingly, Ste began to groan. "Cut it out, unless you have breakfast-in-bed for me again." he yawned. "Your morning breath is lethal. I might just bring you some mouthwash or something," Sunil laughed, "besides, that breakfast was a once off, don't get used to it! You didn't even finish it!" Ste tucked himself into Sunil's chest and began to fall back asleep. Sunil sighed and began to stroke and kiss his hair. "Just don't forget, you have work today." he said, receiving another groan from Ste.

It took Danni a couple of seconds to realise where she was once she had woken up. She still couldn't move her hands and the air was unbearably heavy with heat. She whimpered in panic, which in turn, woke Sienna up. They paused as they heard Patrick moving around in the flat. He was most likely getting ready to leave for work. "Dad, please bring us some water before you leave." Sienna called out. The sounds coming from outside told them that Patrick stopped to think about it, chuckled and then left. Sienna began to scream out for him to come back but it was too late. They both began to wail in misery even though they knew there would be no response.

After an hour or so, Sienna had become very quiet. "He's not in work," she breathed, "he's not in work today. Today is Saturday! Sometimes, he checks in on Sundays but he never goes in to work on Saturdays! He must be gone somewhere else!" Danni wriggled her way into an upright position. "Where would he have gone?" she gasped. Sienna became silent again before uttering "I don't know".

Ste had a set plan for the day which he had stressed over all morning. He had contacted the man who was going to buy his last pack of cocaine from him and give him the money to pay off his debts with other dangerous dealers. They agreed to meet on the street around the corner from _The Hutch_ so he could drop off the burden and then make his way straight to work as a free and trustworthy man. He dug through his wardrobe to find his old work uniform and also took out a large jacket. He shuffled through his underwear until he found the small bag of cocaine and proceeded to shove it inside his jacket. This was it; he was ready. He marched confidently down the stairs and headed straight for the door.

"Aw, you're off then, are you?" Sunil called from the kitchen. "Um, yeah. I'm heading in a bit early. I want to impress Tony." he replied as he reached for the door. "Wait! Let me give you a kiss then!" Sunil ran across the kitchen and swung his arms around him before covering his face in kisses like a mother seeing her son off to his first day of school. "You'll be fine, I promise. Don't try to over-impress him just yet, just do what he says and get everything done. I'll have tea ready for when you get back, alright? Good luck!" Sunil eventually let go of him before forcing one more kiss. Ste was overheating in his jacket from the panic and quickly said goodbye before swinging the door open. In just a few hours, he could come home and never have to worry about hiding his secret any longer.

He made his way towards the street the deal would take place and kept anxiously peering over his shoulder to make sure no one was around. A bulky, hooded figure was already stood against a wall on the street with this hands in his pockets and his head bowed low. Ste rushed over to him. He stood in front of him and took one last swift glance around him to make sure no one was looking. "Eh, are you Pete?" he muttered. The man didn't answer. He simply took his hand out of his pocket and was holding cash. Ste put the cocaine straight into the man's large palm before snatching the money and dashing off immediately. He didn't look back. He felt all of is worries and stress melt away and he had cooled down significantly. It was done.

Sienna began to doze off a little bit after another few hours. The heat and exhaustion was becoming too much for them. They jumped up in alert as the front door of the flat had been opened and closed. Patrick was back. Sienna began to demand water again and stress that both women desperately needed to use the toilet. Sienna stopped to hear an answer from her father but they heard something they were not expecting. A baby's laughter. At least, that's what they thought they were hearing. Sienna and Danni looked at each other in utter confusion and pressed their ears against the door and waited to hear it again. And surely, they did. As clear as anything, a baby's gurgling and giggling and the sound of Patrick cooing gently in response. Patrick opened the door of the boiler room and was holding Maxine's baby. What was more shocking was that Maxine was not there at all.

"You can use the bathroom. Half a minute, each. I want you both straight back in here otherwise there will be trouble. Leave the door open when you go. I'll untie your hands so you can use the toilet but I will tie you back up when you're done. There will be water in the room for you when you get back. I'll be counting." He gave a short smile and opened the door a little wider and let Sienna out first. He untied her wrists from behind her. She looked back at Danni, massaging her red wrists before walking sheepishly past her father. Danni stood there and felt the delicate, cool breeze that she had never appreciated more in her life and took in several deep breaths. Patrick had put down the baby and began filling up two glasses with water before carrying them back to the room. "How are we supposed to drink it?" Danni asked dryly. Patrick turned to her with the same bitter face as before and clenched his jaw. "I will pour it into your mouth for you." he replied tightly.

Sienna returned and took a quick glance at the baby. He continued to gurgle and kick about. She gave him a quick smile and then turned back to look miserably at her father. He hurried her back inside and let Danni leave for the toilet. "Why is Maxine's baby here?" Sienna asked sternly. "Hush now, Sienna, it's my baby too." he grinned. "He's not an 'it'!" she shouted back. Patrick's face transformed to an evil stare once again. He back-handed his daughter, which caused the baby to start to cry. He scooped up the baby and began to hush it quiet again. He kissed him lightly on the forehead and began to hum a tune. "Mummy will notice you're missing and then come here to look for you, won't she?" he cooed to the baby. "And then, I can take her back, too! She belongs here, doesn't she?" He sounded like he was reading his son a bedtime story that was never going to end well.

Danni dragged herself back to the room and waited for Patrick to pour water for them after he had tied them back up again. He lifted a glass for Sienna first. She looked at him in disgust but then tilted her head back slightly and opened her mouth. Patrick delicately poured her water, giving her an opportunity to swallow decent mouthfuls, and placed the glass back in the kitchen. Danni prepared the same way as he began to pour her water. However, he did not stop pouring to give Danni a break to swallow and breathe like he did for Sienna. Danni tried to signal for him to stop pouring but he didn't. Her mouth overflowed and she was forced to spit out nearly an entire mouthful all over herself and the carpet. She looked hatefully at Patrick, who was laughing now. "Oops, I'm sorry. I thought your big mouth would be able to handle it. Oh, look at what you've done to the carpet. Maxine should be here soon to sort it all out." He grinned one more time before slowly closing the door back over and locking it.

"Blessing, can I use your laptop?" Sunil called from the bottom of the stairs. "What for?" she replied from her room. "I just need to log into my Facebook. I'm going to set me and Ste as 'in a relationship'." he shouted once more. "Yeah, alright, it's on the coffee table. Turn it off when you're done!"

Sunil collapsed onto the couch and logged into his account. Before he could do what he had intended to do, he noticed he had a private message. He opened it up to see it was from Trevor Royle, the man who had punched him and Ste on their first night out. He clicked the message open and it was a series of pictures from his mobile phone. He scrolled down through them and saw two figures on the sidewalk of a familiar street. One was a bulky, unidentifiable man and the other appeared to be Ste. Sunil knew from the moment he saw Ste's jacket but then in one of the pictures, Ste had turned his head and his face was visible. Sunil was confused as to why Trevor had taken pictures of him from behind but scrolled through the rest of the pictures. When he looked closer, he could clearly see the unknown man handing Ste money. The following picture showed Ste handing the man a bag of a white substance. Sunil took a moment to process what he was seeing and could feel his insides whirling and rage building up inside of him. Ste had broken his promise.

Ste returned home from work after a couple of hours and was as cheery as he had ever been. He was singing to himself as he took off his jacket by the door and noticed Sunil by the sink, scrubbing vigorously at some dishes. He swooped over to him and grabbed him from behind. "Alright sexy, how was your day?" Ste said as he began to kiss his neck. He was quickly shrugged off, however, by Sunil. Ste looked at him in bewilderment for a moment. "Not in the mood or something? Alright, then. What's for tea? I'm starving!" he asked as he took a seat at the kitchen table. "I saw you," Sunil clenched his teeth, "I saw what you did earlier." Ste was unsure about what he was talking about for a moment but snapped out of his giddy state and froze in horror when it hit him. He felt a cold shiver go down his spine didn't know what to say. Sweat had suddenly formed on his upper lip.

"What do you mean?" he peeped nervously. Sunil threw the plate he was drying back in the sink and swung around. "I saw you in that street! I saw what you gave to that man! You lied to me, Ste!" Sunil bellowed. Ste tried to say something but couldn't think of anything. Trying to make up an excuse now would only make things worse. "How? I thought you were here all day?"

"It doesn't matter, does it?! But, if you must know, someone sent me plenty of photographic evidence on Facebook!" Sunil's face had turned dangerously red and he was beginning to cry. "You promised me you were finished with drugs! You promised me!" he roared. Ste was cowering away at every word and was beginning to cry, too. He finally managed to speak. "I wasn't using it, I swear, I just had to sell that one last bag-"

"How am I supposed to believe you now?! For all I know, you're still using it!"

Ste continued to beg Sunil to believe him but it was no use. "I'm sorry, I am so sorry! You have to believe me! I was just selling it! I had to! Let me explain, please!" Ste pleaded. Sunil shook his head in disappointment and disgust. "If you like snorting that filth up your nose so much, you can shove our relationship up your arse. I don't want anything to do with you. Got it?" Sunil started to leave, but turned back. "And to think, I thought you really cared about your kids." Sunil choked before storming off upstairs. Ste felt like he had just been attacked ferociously with a knife. He felt a splitting pain from everywhere as tears were flowing from his face onto the table's surface. He had never been hurt with words like that before in his life. Ste rummaged through his brain to think of something he could do or say that would make Sunil listen so he could explain himself and make Sunil believe him. Not a single thing came to mind. The feeling of helplessness and desperation was swallowing him up and he was struggling to breathe. He quickly began to feel exasperation and fury swelling up inside of him now. He pounded the kitchen table several times with his fist before burying his head in his arms and crying once more.


	8. Chapter 8 - Come To Me

For the first time in a long time, Ste had not slept well. In fact, he hadn't slept at all. He was kept awake all night by the guilt of what he had done and the pain in both his head and chest. His eyes burned from fatigue and crying through the night. He had ruined everything for himself and lost the rapidly growing trust Sunil had in him. He repeated the words Sunil spoke to him the night before over and over in his head..

"_If you like snorting that filth up your nose so much, you can shove our relationship up your arse_…"

"_And to think, I thought you cared about your kids_."

Each time he repeated the words and remembered the anger in Sunil's face, it was like being punched in the gut. He had truly stopped using cocaine and messed up selling his last burden. He had gotten rid of it for his kids, who were now slipping away just like before. On top of that, he had now lost his boyfriend. His blanket of security and stability was now gone and he felt as naked and helpless as he did two weeks ago.

Sunil, coincidentally, did not sleep at all that night either. His mind was experiencing a rush of thought. He struggled to map out all of his decisions and questions. He wondered why Danni hadn't been in touch. He needed her desperately right now. Her new friendship with Sienna was beginning to scare him. What if Sienna was slowly taking her from him? He spent hours trying to work out why Ste was using drugs. When he couldn't think of a reason, he began to question whether Ste was actually telling the truth. He deeply regretted mentioning Ste's kids to him in that moment. He was just so furious because he wanted Ste to succeed. Ste had admitted to a history with drugs so perhaps he was actually getting rid of that part of his past. But then why didn't he just admit that he had drugs in his possession? What was he supposed to do now?

They passed each other in the kitchen that afternoon and couldn't face each other. They both looked completely exhausted and tried to keep a distance. Dennis and Blessing's boppy vibe was making it so much more difficult. They regularly danced around the kitchen together or burst out in a duet so the atmosphere grew more and more uncomfortable. After they had left, however, Ste and Sunil were left alone in the kitchen. Ste was sat at the table and was resting his head on his hand and seemed to be staring into space. Sunil stood by the sink and kept his eyes on his cup of tea and dared not move them. The sound of the grandfather clock ticking in the hallway echoed through the kitchen. Sunil couldn't take it anymore, he had to leave. He sighed and began pacing out of the kitchen. Ste looked up as he left and tried to think of something to say but everything went blank.

Sienna and Danni used their time as hostages in Patrick's flat as an opportunity to bond. Sienna had told her about her childhood and the many horror stories from her younger years, some of which, involved her father. Danni also opened up about her growing up without a father and spoke lovingly of her mother. She also spoke about her travels with Sunil and the many foods, people and sights they experienced together. Talking in detail about their pasts really helped push the time along as they waited for Patrick to return home. He had thrown some bread into the room the night before and they were forced to eat it off of the floor as their hands were still tied firmly behind their backs. Every now and again, Danni's phone would ring from the kitchen or receive a text. Sunil must have been worried, surely someone will come looking for them soon?

Patrick returned later that day with the baby, who was crying regularly from missing his mother. Patrick was surprisingly gentle with his baby even though he spoke so horribly about him. "Mummy will be here soon, darling. Don't you worry." he said softly. This was likely to be true. Once Maxine figured out that Patrick had stolen the baby, she would surely come back or contact the police. Sienna had revealed everything about Patrick's domestic violence towards Maxine but she was bound to put that aside when her baby was potentially in danger.

Sunil kept himself busy the entire day in order to avoid any communication with Ste. Eventually, Sunil ran out of things to clean in the house and he became a little more unoccupied with every passing minute. Ste grabbed Sunil's arm as he brushed past him in the living room. "Look, we're going to have to talk eventually." he started. Sunil pulled his arm out of his grasp. "We don't have to do anything. I told you, don't talk to me." he spat. Ste followed him out of the room. "Can you at least give me a chance to explain what actually happened?" Ste sounded a little more desperate as he grabbed Sunil's arm again. Sunil paused and sighed before turning to face him. "I'm hurting, okay? I don't care if you want to talk to me or not, I need time to think and to just, be away from you." He began to make his way upstairs. "Fine, can you at least tell me who sent you those pictures?" Ste called after him. Sunil paused again, only this time, he took longer to respond. He turned to Ste and wasn't sure why he wanted to know. "Trevor. Trevor Royle." he answered before climbing the final few stairs and retreating to his room.

Ste immediately grabbed a jacket and stormed out of the house. He was going to do something about this.

The eternity of silence in the hot boiler room was interrupted by a sudden banging on the flat's front door. Sienna and Danni leapt up in anticipation. This could be someone coming to rescue them. They remained quiet as the person at the door continued to bang. "I know you're in there Patrick! Where is my baby?!" It was Maxine. She had plucked up the bravery to come after her son but was unaware of what she had let herself in for. Patrick casually walked from his room to the door and audibly smirked as he opened the door. "Where is he? Give him back!" she shouted. She pushed past him and began looking around the living area for her baby before heading to the bedroom. Patrick locked the front door behind her and waited for her to appear from the bedroom. She carried the baby and hurried to the door. Patrick allowed her because he knew she wasn't leaving. She tried to open the door and knew what was about to happen as soon as she realised it was locked. "Give me the key now, Patrick." she said slowly. He continued to smirk and walked slowly towards her. She backed herself against the wall, begging him not to hurt their baby. He forcibly took the baby from her and laid him gently on the couch before holding Maxine against the wall by her throat. She screamed for help and began to cry but he covered her mouth with his hand and kneed her viciously in the gut. He dragged her to the kitchen and tied her up just like Sienna and Danni before throwing her in with them.

She continued to scream and cry as Patrick returned to his room with the baby. Danni and Sienna tried to calm her down but she was unable to sit still. After a while, though, she did calm down as Sienna and Danni explained everything that had happened over the course of the last two days. She experienced the same flutter of panic that they did but was handling it surprisingly well. Months before, she was still a prisoner of Patrick's and was just as terrified of him. Now, she was solely concerned with her baby's safety. They had to wait. Someone was going to come for them.

Ste, like Maxine, began to hammer at Trevor's door and repeatedly called him out. Trevor emerged at the door with a smug look on his face. "What can I do for ya, Stevie boy?" he grinned. "What do you think you're playing at?! You've ruined everything!" he yelled as he struggled to attack Trevor by swinging his arms at his face multiple times. Trevor simply pushed him back each time and laughed. "Aw, you really are a scrawny little rat, aren't ya?" he chuckled. "I'm more of a man than you'll ever be! I was getting my life together and you couldn't bare it, could ya? You just had to mess it all up for me because you're pathetic!" Ste said sourly. Trevor had stopped laughing and grabbed Ste by the scruff and held him close to his face. "You listen to me, you got yourself in this mess, remember? No one made any of these choices for you. Once you go down this path in life, you stay on it. You'll never be clean." he growled. "I had something good with Sunil and now he's gone. I was about to get off of this path. You just can't face the fact that I at least tried. You're just stuck here with your slimy, bitch of a girlfriend." Ste hissed before spitting in Trevor's face. Trevor let Ste go and mopped his face with his sleeve. He looked bitterly at Ste and grabbed him and dragged him inside his flat. He punched him repeatedly in the face and threw him powerfully against the walls. Ste fell to the ground in a heap as Trevor relentlessly buried several kicks into Ste's sides and legs. Ste yelped in pain and was beginning to force deep coughs in order to breathe properly. He felt numb everywhere but he could feel the trickle of blood making its way out of his nose. He could also taste blood after a few more stomps to the chest. Trevor picked his limp body back up and threw him back out to the street.

Moments later, Dodger found Ste unconscious where Trevor had left him. At first, Dodger thought Ste was just a pile of clothes on the ground. When he saw the small pool of blood, however, he immediately reached for his phone and called an ambulance. Dodger lifted Ste's head from the pavement and tried to get him to wake up or even make a noise. There was absolutely no response. He reached for his phone again and contacted Dennis and told him to call Sunil. An ambulance arrived shortly afterwards and Dodger decided to go to the hospital with Ste, who still hadn't shown any sign of consciousness.

Blind panic had taken over Sunil as he ran frantically to the hospital. Dodger met him at the reception and took him to Ste's room. He panted heavily as he entered the room and his face dropped when he saw Ste's body wired up and covered in blood-stained bandages. His eyes were like round, purple golf-balls and the rest of his face was cut and swollen. He rushed to his bedside but didn't know where to hold him. His entire body seemed fragile and was covered in bruises. "Who did this to him?" he asked breathlessly as he turned to Dodger. He gently slid his hand under Ste's. "I don't know, I found him like this on the side of the street outside Trevors' flat." Dodger replied. Sunil was piecing together what probably had happened in his head. He became restless and wanted to know if he was going to be okay. "Where are the doctors? Why aren't they doing anything?" he rambled. Dodger put his arm over Sunil's shoulder to comfort him. "They're going to run a few tests on him, calm down! I know he's your boyfriend but you've got to be patient." he explained. Sunil's mouth had gone dry. This had essentially happened because he had dumped Ste. "It's my fault…" he breathed in guilt. "Stop that, don't be silly. You know that's not true." Dodger said. "No, no, it is. I shouldn't have dumped him. We were fighting over-… things and I acted too quickly. He wouldn't have gone to Trevor's if we had just talked about it." Sunil squeezed Ste's hand but was too afraid to squeeze too hard in fear of doing any more damage. "Look, you need to put all of that fighting and negative thinking to the side right now and just be there for him when he wakes up, alright? He's going to want you here." Dodger assured him. Sunil nodded as they stood in silence over Ste's frail body. The steady beeping from the ECG machine brought both comfort and worry to Sunil.

"I have to go in a bit, are you going to stay with him?" Dodger asked Sunil after another two hours had passed. They were moved outside to the ward to allow the doctors to run some more tests on Ste. "Yeah, of course. I need to be here when he wakes up. Thanks, Dodger. This could have been a lot worse if you weren't there. Thank you." Sunil smiled. As Dodger got up to leave, Sunil stopped him for a minute. "You haven't heard anything from Sienna, have you?" Dodger thought for a moment before replying, "No, actually. I called her once or twice but she didn't pick up. She misses a lot of calls though, so…" he shrugged. "Why, is something the matter?" he asked. Sunil didn't know whether to mention Danni's absence and worry him. There was still a chance that everything was perfectly fine and he was over-reacting but it had been days without any contact. "Um, no, not really. I just tried to call her yesterday. She must have just missed my calls, too." Dodger laughed and made a comment on Sienna's inability to answer a phone under his breath before shaking his hand and leaving Sunil in the ward. Once Dodger had gone, Sunil stood up and peered through the viewing window at Ste's broken body. He had no clue how serious this could be. One thing he did know was that he still cared about Ste enough to be truly terrified for the test results. Tears appeared glistening in his eyes as he took a seat by Ste's door again. He had a lot to think about. Was Ste going to get through this? What was he going to do about Trevor? He knew he wanted to be with Ste again but his own mistakes could stop that from ever happening again. He waited anxiously for someone to come back with his test results.


	9. Chapter 9 - Broken But Repairable

After another couple of hours waiting, a doctor finally arrived to deliver Ste's results. Sunil had moved a seat beside his bed and was beginning to doze off. He straightened up when the doctor entered the room. He appeared to be in his mid-thirties with styled, blonde hair and shook Sunil's hand as he took a quick look at Ste before quickly scanning through his clipboard.

"I'm just going to get straight into it," he cleared his throat, "fortunately, he's not going to die or anything." Sunil grabbed Ste's hand in relief and let the doctor continue.

"However, his body has obviously experienced some major physical damage, particularly with his ribs and the face. He does have two broken ribs which are luckily not going to cause any further problems as long as he rests for the next few weeks. We will be giving him some strong painkillers so he can breathe and cough without any pain. Luckily, no further damage was done to his face. He still has all of his teeth and there's no damage to the facial or cranial skeleton. All of the visible damage should heal up completely over time along with his ribs. Any questions?" he smiled.

"Do you have any idea when he's going to wake up? Surely he should have woken up by now if he's going to be okay." Sunil tried not to sound too worried but he couldn't help it. The doctor laughed before answering, "He's had a rough day. He's just sleeping! It's getting late now so his sleeping pattern will be messy for the next day or two. It's nothing to worry about." he winked. With that done, the doctor shook Sunil's hand once more and left the room.

Sunil wanted to go and bring Ste some food and a drink but the last thing he wanted to do was not be there if he woke up soon. He also wasn't even sure if Ste would be able to eat or drink anything right now. The cafeteria was just a minute's walk away. Surely, he would be okay. He quickly pecked a kiss onto Ste's forehead and turned to leave. Just before he reached the door, though, Ste had made a noise. He grunted and his eyes started to lift slowly. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the lighting in the room. Both eyes were incredibly droopy and still quite swollen but he managed to look up to Sunil with some effort. He tried to speak but all he could vocalise were a few moans. "Ste, it's me! You're all right! How are you feeling?" Sunil sat back down and grabbed Ste's hand with both of his. "Wh-… where am I?" Ste croaked. He looked around woozily and then winced in pain from moving his head. "You're in hospital. Everything is going to be okay. Just relax, you need to rest. I'm just going to go and get you something to eat and drink for later. Will you be okay? I'll only be a minute." Ste still wasn't fully awake and just appeared to be falling back asleep. Sunil thought he saw him nod slightly, however, so he gave him one last kiss on the cheek before heading to the cafeteria.

When Sunil returned, he found that Ste had not just woken up, but he had managed to sit himself up slightly. He smiled at Sunil as he took a seat beside him again. "I got you an egg and bacon sandwich and some water. It's no breakfast-in-bed, I know." he smiled back. Sunil left the sandwich and bottle of water on the small table by his bed and held Ste's hand again. "Thanks for coming." Ste said wheezily. He cleared his throat and by the looks of it, that also caused a sharp pain. "It's okay… I have so much I need to say to you. I just don't know how to say it." Sunil replied with an edge of worry. "Say what you need to say." Ste coughed. Sunil stared at him in pity.

"Why did you go over to Trevor's place?" Sunil asked without changing expression. Ste sighed slightly and closed his eyes. "I was angry. I was angry that he messed everything up. I had to do something." he replied. "Look at what he did to you, though! I was really worried, you know! You should have just waited until we were ready to talk." Sunil was beginning to cry. "I was ready to talk, you wouldn't let me though!" Ste tried not to raise his voice because he wasn't even sure if he could. "Let's talk now, then. I thought about it a lot and I know I didn't give you a chance to explain what happened." Sunil moved his chair closer to the bed so Ste didn't have to turn his head and hurt himself more. Ste took a moment to gather his breath and planned out how he was going to word his explanation. "I swear, I was just selling off that last bag. John Paul found that bag before and that's why he left me. I didn't want someone else to leave me so I had to sell it for money to pay off some debts. It was literally my last dealing and look at what happens." Ste's voice was becoming a little bit clearer now. "Why didn't you just tell me about it instead of hiding it?" Sunil asked. "I was going to but I didn't know how you were going to react! What if you didn't want to be with me? I'd hate myself even more. I just wanted it gone! If you honestly still think I'd choose cocaine over my job and my kids and now you, then I don't think there's anything I can say that will change your mind."

Sunil sat in silence and thought for a moment. He was certain Ste was being truthful this time. It made sense. All of the emotion from the past couple of days rapidly turned into guilt. "I'm… I'm sorry about what I said about you and the kids… I was just angry… I didn't mean it. I know you love your kids." he said softly. Tears began to appear in the corner of Ste's black and purple eyes as he remembered how much that had hurt him. He didn't need to respond. Sunil clutched Ste's hand again. "I still care about you, Ste. I wish we could just pretend this never happened. I don't want our relationship to be over."

"It never was over for me." Ste uttered. "We've known each other for a week. It feels like we've been together for ages. I don't want to be without you."

"You won't be! I promise, we'll work this out. Stop thinking about that, though. Just heal up and rest for now." Sunil said as he stroked Ste's head.

Another hour or two had passed and they spoke endlessly about anything they could think of in order to pass the time. Sunil was weak for Ste's horrible jokes and sarcastic flirting. He enjoyed just watching him speak. "When can we go home?" Ste asked, looking around for someone of authority. "I'm not sure, I'll ask someone. Here's that doctor now, actually. Hold on." Sunil replied as he darted out after the passing doctor. He returned a moment later with him and a smile on his face. "We can go as soon as you're not dizzy and can walk." he beamed. Ste immediately tried to lift himself off of the bed. Sunil and the doctor both jumped forward in order to catch him in case he wasn't ready to move about yet. He managed to sit up and shift his legs over the edge of the bed. He pretended as if his head wasn't spinning dramatically and stood up within seconds. He began to tilt to the left a little bit but he grabbed the edge of the bed and Sunil's arm to hold himself steady.

"I have one final thing to ask you if you think you're ready to leave now." the doctor asked in a more serious tone as Ste took a few steps forward. "Was this the result of an assault of some sort? If so, you will have to inform the police." Ste looked panicked and butted in before Sunil could answer. "Oh, no! I just fell down those tiled stairs on that street. I tripped over an empty Coke can or something at the top and just fell." he lied. Sunil looked tremendously confused and was fuming. Once they had packed and began to walk slowly through the ward to the exits, Sunil turned to him to ask him what that was all about. "We can't go to the police. Trevor will show them those pictures of me and I'll go down for dealing. I've already got warnings and stuff before so they can't be seen!" Ste whispered as he staggered through the corridor with him. Sunil didn't even need to try and convince Ste to at least think about it because he knew he was right. Ste couldn't afford to be arrested now. Not just because he was injured, but because he was now on the right track.

"Who found me, anyways?" Ste asked as they waited in reception to be checked out. "Dodger. He was just passing and he found you. I texted him earlier, actually. He's going to collect us in a bit." Sunil replied. Once they were finished, Sunil helped Ste walk out the front doors and they stood by the car park to wait. "Does it hurt, walking with broken ribs?" Sunil asked as a strong breeze pushed past them. "Yeah, a bit. You know what the worst bit is, though? You can't hug me for a while." Ste smiled at how cheesy that sounded. "No sex, either!" Sunil laughed. "Well, you could always pop down to the fancy dress shop and pick up a nice doctor's outfit. I wouldn't mind being nursed back to health by a sexy doctor!" Ste chuckled. The wind was getting a little stronger with every passing minute as they stood in the car park.

"Has Danni been in touch?" Ste asked, shivering from the breeze. Sunil hadn't even thought about his best friend. She still hadn't been in touch. "I'm going to text her again. She hasn't even been to collect fresh clothes or anything. Something's not right." Sunil said as he whipped out his phone and began to text. Dodger swerved around the corner of the car park and pulled over beside them. He got out to help Ste lower himself into the car. After Ste had thanked Dodger for everything and they began to drive off, Sunil finally received a reply from Danni's phone.

"_I'm so sorry I haven't been in touch! We have just been so busy and I didn't get a chance to reply! We have been shopping so I have everything I need. I'll be staying for another while. I'll see you soon. X_"

Sunil looked aggravated as he read it over and over again. "This isn't how she texts! And she just 'went shopping' and bought everything for herself? Why did she do that? She could have just collected her stuff! Something's not right here!" Sunil ranted. "Where did she say she was again?" Dodger asked as they turned in to the village. "Patrick and Sienna's. I'm going to go over and see her later. This is getting ridiculous." he puffed.

Once Sunil had settled Ste on the couch at home, he checked if there was anything else he needed before getting ready to visit Danni at Sienna's place. "I'll just be there for a few minutes. Dennis will be home from work soon, anyways. If Blessing is annoying you, tell her to stop or I won't wash her next load of laundry." Sunil winked before kissing Ste's hands. "Okay. Thanks for this." Ste smiled. Sunil gave him a warm smile back and grabbed his jacket at the door before heading for Patrick and Sienna's flat. He texted Danni's phone on the way.

"_what number is the flat? Someone's gonna need to let me into the building too! X_"

He received a reply as he approached the building.

"_Are you coming over? It's the top floor, right at the back. Ring the bell, I'll tell someone to let you in._"

Sunil was still not used to Danni's new texting style but continued making his way to the building. He rang the bell for the top floor and spoke into the voice receiver. The door was unlocked and he entered. The building was cool and quiet and the smell of clean carpet and paint was very strong. He climbed the stairs until there were no more and he spotted the one door right at the back of the corridor. He approached the flat and pressed his ear against the door to hear if anyone was inside. There was no noise whatsoever. Considering the fact that Danni had told him that she was enjoying herself so much, he thought they would have been doing something interesting. He knocked and waited.

He heard footsteps approaching the door. It opened and Patrick stood there with the same charming smile he showed everyone. Sunil was a few inches taller than Patrick but there was still something mysterious about him that seemed intimidating. "Hey, sorry to bother you. Is Danni here? I'm her friend." Sunil chirped. He tried to peek over Patrick's shoulder but Patrick simply stepped to the side a little bit to block his view. "I'm sorry, you just missed them." he smiled. "Really? I texted her to let her know I was coming over, she said she was going to tell someone to let me in." Sunil responded in surprise.

"Sunil?! Is that you?! Run! Get out of here now!" It was Danni's voice. It was muffled in the distance but she sounded alarmed. Sienna and Maxine's hysteric voices followed.

Sunil wasn't sure what was going on but Patrick's face gradually turned sour and his left eye started to twitch in anger. "What's going on?" Sunil asked as he tried to push past Patrick. He effortlessly pushed Sunil back with one hand. In his other hand, was Danni's phone. Sunil looked at the phone and then at Patrick. Without any warning signs, Patrick dragged Sunil into the flat and threw him to the ground. "What the hell?" he shouted in shock. Patrick charged at Sunil and kicked him in the head. Sunil spun to the ground and was temporarily knocked out. Patrick rushed to the kitchen and fetched his equipment for tying his victims up. With ease, he bound Sunil's wrists together and hoisted him up. The women continued to shout out for Sunil from their room but Sunil was still dazed and unable to defend himself. Patrick unlocked the door and flung it open. "Look, ladies. I've found you a new friend." he jeered as he dumped Sunil into the already crowded boiler room. There was now no space to move around at all. Danni, Maxine, Sienna and now Sunil sat in horror as Patrick slammed the door once again and locked it.


	10. Chapter 10 - No Room For Mistakes

Ste had fallen asleep on the couch that night and woke up to the sound of Blessing's high heels tapping loudly on the floor of the room above. He reached for his phone to check the time and squinted his eyes as the screen lit up. It was already midday. He pulled himself up on his elbows as more sharp pains darted through his body and turned off the TV that had been left on all night. He called out for Sunil but was only answered by Dennis, who was rushing down the stairs. "He's not here, mate." he said as he scurried around the kitchen and the hallway to collect his wallet and his phone before he left for work. "Well, where is he then?" Ste asked in a groggy confusion. "I dunno! He probably went out early this morning or something." Dennis replied as he hurried out of the front door. He couldn't think of a single thing that Sunil would leave the house early in the morning for. He shrugged it off and decided to try to stand up again.

After limping to the kitchen and making himself a cup of tea, Ste carefully made his way upstairs, holding his torso and wincing in pain with each step. He peeped inside Sunil's room and it was, indeed, empty. He noticed that Sunil's wallet was placed on his bedside locker where it always was when he didn't need it. That ruled out any sort of shopping trip from the mystery. Perhaps he had gone to collect Danni or to visit someone in the village. Even still, Ste thought that it would be smart to bring your wallet even if you were just in the village. He decided to try and shower and settle down. Maybe Sunil would arrive home soon.

The hostages had not slept at all last night. The heat in the room with two new bodies was unbearable and the smell had worsened because they were all denied any opportunity to wash themselves. Being in that environment made them feel something similar to itchy. They felt like lab rats in a small box, clawing to get out. Nothing they could do could make it more comfortable other than lying to Patrick about needing to use the toilet in shifts so they could have a few minutes of decent legroom. The sound of the baby crying from the other rooms set Maxine into an uncomfortable panic every single time. Because Patrick was working, he had taken the baby to an unknown babysitter and brought the baby back home with him after work. Maxine had begged him to allow her to hold the baby but he completely ignored her. He did, however, open the door at one point and asked Maxine to leave the room for a moment. He left the door open so the rest of the group could hear. "Would you mind preparing dinner for me tonight?" he asked softly, stroking her hair. She and the hostages looked rather puzzled at his sudden request. "You w-want me… to make you… dinner?" she repeated. He smiled lovingly at her and began to untie her wrists. "I miss your homemade dinners. I will be watching you, of course. Wouldn't you like to show your love for your husband?" He watched her face grow more and more confused but Sienna knew exactly what her father was up to.

He walked her over to the kitchen and watched as she timidly began to take out some pots and pans. She thought about making a swing for Patrick's head but he was standing so close to her that she wouldn't be able to hit a decent swing. She also didn't think she'd have the physical strength to deliver a shot that would keep Patrick down long enough for her to escape. "What do you want me to make?" she asked as he breathed down her neck and continued to play with her hair. "Hmm, I quite fancy a stir fry." he replied casually. Sienna looked on in disgust. She nudged the others and whispered, "He's not doing this because he's hungry. He's teasing us. He's teasing Maxine with freedom and he's teasing us with the smell of food. He's sick!" Maxine began to collect ingredients from around the kitchen and tried not to think about Patrick standing right next to her no matter where she went. These next few minutes were going to be hell.

Ste had phoned Sunil multiple times throughout the day but no one picked up. He was more confused than worried but couldn't help thinking about how the same thing had happened with Danni. The chances that Sunil visited Danni yesterday and enjoyed it so much that he also decided to stay were minute and ridiculous. He continued to limp around the house looking for something to do but couldn't find anything that could take his mind off of it. Sunil seemed eager to take care of Ste the day before. Why would he just go missing with no explanation? Ste contemplated going to Sienna's flat purely to ask if Sunil had actually visited. He wasn't sure it was a good idea though considering his condition. He needed to rest but boredom was already making everything difficult.

Maxine continued to prepare Patrick's dinner reluctantly and tried desperately not to make eye contact with him. His towering presence behind her made her more and more nervous as she began to heat up the oil. She carefully chopped an assortment of vegetables as Patrick brushed his hand up and down her arm in the event that she tried to attack him with the knife. "You're making too many mistakes. I want them chopped smaller." Patrick suddenly hissed. Maxine squealed in fright as he tightened his grip around her arm. He began to guide her arm to chop the vegetables the way he wanted them. The smell of burning oil began to flood the kitchen. Patrick growled in anger and began shouting. "Look at what you've done! You stupid whore! You're going to burn this place down!" Maxine cowered away as the baby began to cry. "Sienna, shut him up!" he roared in the direction of the boiler room. Once Maxine had regained control of the situation, she began to fry the vegetables. The smell as she added spices and the noodles soon after was intoxicating. After living on bread for the past few days, Sienna and Danni's stomach's audibly cried out for food. Patrick was really in control.

"Pass me the remote, will ya?" Ste called from the couch. Dennis, who was in the kitchen, was making everyone dinner. "Why can't you get it yourself? I know you're in pain but you can't use it as an excuse to not even get the remote from the other couch!" he replied with little sympathy. Ste sighed and forced himself to his feet and fetched the remote himself. Blessing appeared out of nowhere, however, and quickly yanked the remote out of Ste's hand. "Sorry! My turn with the TV, babe!" she piped as she carelessly pushed past him. Although Ste had hogged the TV all day, he still felt that it was unfair and trooped into the kitchen instead in defeat. "Still no sign of Sunil or Danni, no?" Dennis asked as he took out some battered cod that he had made for everyone. Ste shook his head and took some plates out. "I've made them some just in case but it is odd that they haven't been in touch." Dennis said. "I'm going to go to Sienna's later and see what the story is." Ste mumbled as he scooped out some peas onto his plate. "Maybe they just don't fancy looking after you all day long!" Dennis joked. Ste laughed back but knew that was the most reasonable explanation suggested yet.

Patrick continued to watch Maxine from over her shoulders as she dished out Patrick's plate of food. "Why are you only plating up some for me?" he asked in what seemed to be genuine wonder. Maxine looked at him in bafflement. "Aren't you going to have some, too? You made it, after all." he smiled. Maxine looked at the rest of the group but they all couldn't take their eyes off of the steaming food. With hesitation, she served up some for herself and followed Patrick to the dining area. He lit some candles and took out a bottle of wine as Maxine took a seat. "Aren't they going to eat anything?" Maxine questioned as she picked up a knife and fork. Patrick looked over at the door and smiled. "You didn't make enough for them, did you?" he replied slyly. Maxine squeezed her knife and fork angrily in her hands and looked at him in disdain. "Well, tuck in then." he grinned as he began to eat. Maxine wasn't as hungry as the others so for her, it was more torturous that she was eating hot food and they weren't. A couple of moments later, Patrick lifted his glass of wine in the air to toast. "This is simply delicious, cheers." he said lovingly. She raised her glass and clinked it off of his without looking up from her plate.

The minutes that followed were absolutely insufferable as Danni, Sienna and Sunil listened to the forks scraping the plates. The smell was obviously still present and the baby was beginning to cry. Patrick gritted his teeth as he tried to ignore the baby's incessant screams but he eventually got up to tell Sienna to shut the baby up once again. "I'm trying! He's just hungry!" she argued. Maxine sat frozen in place as she realized that she had an opportunity to do something. She glanced around anxiously for something she could do but the panic made her mind go blank. Before she could do anything, Patrick had returned and took a seat before starting to eat again. Maxine felt ashamed of herself and regretted every wasted second. "Would you take my plate for me, Maxine? I'm finished eating." Patrick said after a moment. Maxine had not finished hers but knew that this was an order and refusing to do so would cause some considerable trouble. She stood up to take his plate but he stood up, also. He handed her the rest of the cutlery and walked her over to the sink. "Wash this all up, now." he said with a stern manner. As she slowly washed each dish, Patrick began to kiss her neck. This made Maxine feel incredibly ill and she had a feeling she could see her dinner again very soon. "I missed you, you know." he said into her ear soothingly. She cringed repeatedly as he continued to kiss her neck and now her ears. She was struggling to wash the remaining dishes and just wanted to push him away.

Unable to bear it any longer, she did shove him away and immediately regretted her decision. She closed her eyes and began to cry as she knew what was about to happen. She could hear Patrick's breathing becoming more aggressive. He grabbed a handful of Maxine's hair and tugged viciously. Maxine yelped in pain and Sienna begged him to let her go. He slapped her repeatedly in the face before kneeing her in the stomach. She dropped to the kitchen floor in agony. "Leave her alone!" Danni screamed. Patrick had an animalistic look in his eyes and looked down furiously at Maxine. She couldn't help it, but she began to vomit from the impact. She had vomited all over Patrick's shoes. He lifted her by the hair again and dragged her to the bathroom. "Clean yourself up! You're pathetic!" he bellowed. She whimpered as he made his way back to the kitchen. Maxine was left alone again. She had to do something; this was her chance. Her eyes scanned the room more calmly this time as she looked for something she could use as a weapon. The only thing that had any sort of weight was a long, wooden toilet roll stand. She picked it up and roughly measured its weight in her hands. If she delivered a strong enough blow to Patrick's head, she could take him out and have time to help the others. She took a deep breath and left the bathroom. She didn't know if she could do it but if she was seen holding a heavy object and didn't do something with it, she would be in more trouble.

Patrick was wiping his shoes in disgust by the sink with his back turned to everyone. She grasped the stand tightly and walked towards him slowly so she didn't make a sound. The baby, however, was still hungry and started to cry from the room once again. Patrick whirled around to tell Sienna to shut him up once more. He slammed the door on them and then spotted Maxine. She had no other choice so she ran towards him with the stand held over head ready to swing. He also ran forward and grabbed her arms before she had a chance to attack him. "No! Let me go!" she screamed as he wrestled her around the room. They struggled and stumbled around as Maxine tried to free herself. She still had hold of the stand so there was still hope if she could just distance herself. Patrick threw her aside and she knocked the dining table over. The candles that were still lit fell towards the couch and landed on Patrick's newspapers. They continued to wrestle around the kitchen and dining room area as the fire began to spread slowly around the room.

Maxine broke free and swung for Patrick's head but he managed to dodge it. He grabbed her in a headlock and tossed her to the floor. He looked across the room in horror as the entire dining room was now on fire. Maxine saw the opportunity and delivered one hard whack to the side of Patrick's head. He fell to the floor and didn't seem to be conscious. Maxine almost laughed in relief as she stood over his body. She threw the stand to the floor beside him and rushed to the boiler room as she realised how quickly the fire was spreading. The entire flat was now hot and smoke was becoming a real threat. She opened the door and immediately got down to her knees to start untying them.

"What happened?!" Sienna asked as Maxine started with her wrists. "Patrick is knocked out! We have to hurry! There's a fire!" she replied in panic. Patrick had tied the rope so tight that Maxine was struggling. The others tried to stand up but with the lack of room to move, they had to free at least one person in order for there to be some room to get themselves up. The fire had now spread to the living area and was heading towards the bedroom. The sound of the flames crackling from behind Maxine caused an understandable panic from them all. "Hurry Maxine!" they gasped as the flames had now burned their way to the front door. "I can't do it!" she screamed. From behind, Patrick grabbed Maxine and threw her backwards. She looked up in horror as her husband had already recovered. He lifted her from the ground and chucked her into the boiler room once more before smirking at them one more time and locking the door.


	11. Chapter 11: Sacrifices And Tragedy

Patrick hurried to the front door of the flat as the flames grew larger and hotter. He had the ability to escape now. He edged his way around the fire and took one last look at the boiler room door. He grimaced as the sound of his wife, his two daughters, his 3-month-old son and Sunil screamed for their lives. With one last smirk, he spun around and exited the flat. He had to make this look like an unfortunate accident. Suspicions would be raised if he was discovered at the scene in good health. He had to get away from the building, come home a short while later and pretend as if this was all a tragedy.

"Dennis, I'm heading over to Patrick and Sienna's, all right?" Ste called from the front door of the house. "Don't forget to bring a key! And leave your phone on in case you go missing as well!" Dennis yelled back. Even a simple task like putting on a jacket made Ste's upper body ache. His arms were still covered in bruises and his ribs were still in the early stages of healing. Really, he should not have been walking around the village at all but the mystery surrounding his boyfriend and his friend's whereabouts was becoming harder to ignore with every passing moment. He zipped up after putting his arms through the sleeves of his jacket in stages and headed out. He kept his hand resting across his ribcage as he limped through the darkening streets. His lungs quickly felt cool as he had to breathe in more than usual with his dodgy chest. Before he was even halfway there, he questioned whether he was going to make it. The muscles in his legs were still incredibly sore and he was so out of breath. "Blimey." he panted as he took a moment. He knew he would be straight back once he had at least seen Sunil and Danni.

Patrick rushed down the buildings' steps and burst out of the front door, ready to head to the school and hide out there until the flat had burned down. Unfortunately for him, a small crowd of people were already gathering outside the building and were looking up to the top floor. He looked up with them and saw that clouds of black smoke were spilling out of his flat's kitchen window. He had been seen now; his plan was ruined. He tried to act surprised and panicked before darting back inside. "Shit!" he uttered as he raced up the stairs once more. He had to play the hero now but if anyone survived, they would surely tell the truth about what happened. He could stall from rescuing them and it could still look like an unfortunate event. He fumbled with his keys as he tried to find the right one, dropping them in the process. Eventually, he forced himself back into the burning flat and was challenged by the blast of heat once the door had opened. Sweat was barrelling down his face within seconds as walls of fire were dancing around his former home. There were no more screams to be heard and he wasn't sure if this was because of the volume of the flames or that they had already died from suffocation.

Ste continued to limp towards the building and was taken aback by the growing crowds outside. He could smell burning and noticed large black clouds up above. People were murmuring and he tried to tune in to their conversations.

"Isn't that Patrick Blake's flat?" One woman gossiped with another woman.

"That doesn't look good at all, I hope no one's inside." Another man said to his wife.

Ste shuffled through the crowd but it was clear what they were all talking about. People had their hands and arms clasped firmly over their mouths and noses as the smoke was becoming thicker in the air. Ste was also beginning to cough but looked up to see the smoke for himself. He felt every bit of his insides drop to his toes as he realised this was no small fire and his friends were potentially in danger. There were loud bangs and threats of the fire spreading throughout the building every couple of seconds. "Sunil!" Ste roared from the crowd. No one really noticed him as he called out repeatedly. He began to describe Sunil to anyone who would listen and asked if they had seen him. When everyone confirmed that they hadn't seen anyone but Patrick, Ste became very agitated. "Why isn't anyone calling a fire brigade?!" he screamed. He looked around and everyone just stared. Some people began to take their phones out. He didn't know where it came from, but Ste's body was beginning to experience a rush of adrenaline. The constant agony he was experiencing was being replaced with energy and strength. He bolted towards the building and began to race up the many flights of stairs. He had tripped a few times but felt nothing. Each step just contributed to this rush. He reached the top floor and pushed the flat's door open.

Ste was horrified at what he saw, or what he couldn't see. Smoke and red flames just covered everything. The heat was so intense that it was burning his eyelids, forcing him to squint. He pulled his t-shirt over his nose and mouth and began to climb into the wreckage. He saw Patrick towards the bedroom. He was sat on the floor and terrified as he seemed trapped. "Hold on!" Ste called from the other end of the flat. Patrick waved his jacket at the flames but they were only increasing in size. "Where are the others?" Ste roared to Patrick. "I don't know! I came to look for them!" he shouted back. Immediately after, Ste heard Sunil's voice. It was muffled but he definitely heard it. "Sunil! Sunil, where are you?!" Ste screamed as he looked around for any sign of him. "We're in here! Hurry, Ste!" Sunil's voice was coming from the door by the kitchen. Ste managed to jump over the flames separating the kitchen from the door and he began to try and bust it down. Ste heard someone call his name from behind. He whirled around and saw Dodger climbing through the inferno. "They're in here!" Ste yelled at him as he began to help him break the door down. With their combined strength, the door did fly off of its hinges. Sienna, Danni, Maxine, the baby and Sunil were all huddled inside as the door was broken away. "Give me the baby, Maxine!" Dodger called out. He covered the baby with his body as he rushed back out of the flat. They began to get themselves out of the boiler room with very little time left.

Sunil was unable to breath and was dropping in and out of consciousness from the amount of smoke he had inhaled. Ste lifted him to his feet and threw his arm over his shoulder. "It's okay! I've got you!" Ste cried as he powered his way towards the door. The women were all stepping over the broken door to follow Ste and Sunil out.

"Maxine, Sienna, Danni!"

They whirled around. Patrick was still stuck behind a growing wall of flames. "Help!" he screamed in desperation. He looked at them like a scared child but they didn't look back with the expected sympathy. "Please!" he begged as he backed himself up further against his last remaining space by the wall. Maxine walked forward to reach out for him. Sienna held her back and shook her head. "He's going to hell." she announced as she pulled Patrick's large bookcase down to block off the area in which he was trapped. The bookcase also caught fire and Patrick's screams of despair echoed through the flames. Sienna turned to Maxine and pulled her into a hug. "It's all over now!" she said as they both began to cry. "Come on! Let's go! We don't have much time!" Danni pleaded as she tugged at their arms. They followed her out of the flat and they struggled down the flights of stairs. They coughed so excessively that saliva was running down their chins and their faces were wet with tears. No matter how much they coughed, it didn't seem to make their lungs feel any emptier. There was just so much smoke. They stumbled out of the building and were immediately aided by medics who had just arrived. The fire brigade was also arriving with the police. Sirens and the rowdiness of the crowds filled the streets. People were taking pictures and videos on their phones and authorities were pushing past everyone to help anyone they could.

Danni looked towards the ambulances and saw Ste sitting with his arm around Sunil. Sunil was still coughing and was glugging water but just spitting it back out again. Ste held him close and held an oxygen mask to his face. Maxine was rushing around in a blind panic asking medics where her baby was. She was directed to an ambulance and told to get to the hospital with the baby as soon as they could. More medics arrived and hurried Danni and Sienna inside one of the ambulances. They took one last look at the burning flat before wrapping their arms around each other and crying again.

Arriving at the hospital was a blur for all those who were taken there. They were all slightly reluctant to go because they were insisting that they were fine but Maxine was doing everything she could to get her baby looked after. "Why isn't he crying?! Is he going to be okay?" she blubbered. She was repeatedly told that everything was going to be fine and that a few check-ups just needed to be performed. Once she had calmed down a little bit, she allowed the doctors to take her baby for tests as she also had to get checked up. She grabbed Sienna and pulled her to the side. "Did we do the right thing?" she whispered as she looked around to see who was within hearing distance. "You didn't do anything, Maxine. I did. And yes, it was the right thing. I did it for me and I did it for you and for every woman that he has ever harmed. We have to forget about this. He can burn in hell." she growled, rubbing Maxine's arms to comfort her. Both ladies' faces were streaming with mascara. Danni appeared from behind Maxine and Sienna explained everything she had just said. "You're my little sister. We can start fresh now and nothing-… no one can stop us." Sienna smiled at Danni.

A doctor approached the girls moments later and didn't look very enthusiastic. "Maxine?" he called towards them. "Yeah, that's me." she replied, suddenly alarmed. "I'm very sorry… we have some bad news…"

Maxine lost her ability to stand and she collapsed to the floor and screamed as she was told that she had lost her baby boy. It seemed like there was no sound of anything in that moment. Sienna and Danni held her as she wailed in agony. This wasn't sadness or tragedy. This was physical pain. Maxine felt her insides rip over and over again. Danni and Sienna cradled her and bawled with her. Maxine repeatedly screamed "no!" at the floor as the one good thing that came from her dreadful relationship with a monster was cruelly taken away from her.

On the other side of the hospital, Ste lay with Sunil in his hospital bed. Sunil still had an oxygen mask pressed to his face as he still hadn't caught a steady breath. "How did you even do it?" Sunil smiled at him. "Do what?" he replied. "Save me! You couldn't put on a t-shirt the last time I saw you and you broke down a door to save me!" They both laughed. "Maybe it's just because I care about you that much… Am I your new little favourite superhero now?" Ste chuckled. "Second favourite, after Shadowcat." he winked. "Oh, I'm not as good as the most irrelevant superhero ever? Who even is Shadowcat?" Ste laughed. Sunil kissed him lovingly on the cheek after a moment's silence. "That was the bravest thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you." he said as he burrowed himself into Ste's chest. "It was brave, weren't it? Look, I burned off all of the hairs on my arm and all." Ste held up his arm above them and examined the redness of his skin from the burning air.

In that moment, Sunil just wanted to announce to Ste that he loved him. They had known each other for a week and a half but things had escalated to life-saving already. It wasn't for nothing, maybe Ste loved him, too. He just couldn't say it in the event that it ruined what they had now. "Are you all right? You're gone a bit quiet." Ste said as he stroked Sunil's arm. "Yeah, I'm fine… I'm just really happy you're here." Sunil responded through his oxygen mask. Ste was tremendously proud of himself and grinned as he pulled Sunil closer.


	12. Chapter 12 - The Mourning After

The heat of the night before had long gone and all was replaced with a crippling cold cruelty for Maxine, despite the fact that the weather had improved considerably overnight. She, Danni and Sienna held hands firmly as they were taken to see Maxine's baby boy. They entered the room he was being kept in and they had broken down in tears before reaching him. They peered over the walls of his crib through unstoppable tears. His tiny body was truly lifeless. His skin was befouled by red burn marks but he seemed so angelic and at peace. Sienna and Danni allowed Maxine to approach him first as they mourned the death of their baby step-brother who they never really got to know. He was unnamed and therefore still pure in Maxine's eyes.

She reached in to his cradle and held his miniature hand before leaning over to kiss it. It was becoming too much for her and she had to turn away. Danni caught her in an embrace as she continued to sob dramatically into her shoulder. Similarly, Sienna carefully approached the baby's body and seemed more angry than upset. Her father had done this. This innocent life was lost because of his ongoing torture and final abandonment when he left them to die. She wanted him to be alive purely so she could cause his death over and over again. It was unjust that Patrick was now dead and didn't have to live with the consequences. It was impossible to tell whether he escaped hell or was now suffering in it. She retreated to Maxine and also pulled her into a hug.

Danni wanted her moment with her step-brother whom she had only known for a few days. She wrapped his little fingers around one of her fingers and took in his striking innocence. "We love you, baby bro. Don't you ever forget that!" she snivelled.

Maxine wanted to stay with him in the room and neither Sienna nor Danni could deny her that. They secretly felt that it would only make everything much more difficult for her but she was a mourning mother and she cherished these moments with her son. "I'm going to go and find Ste and Sunil and tell them what happened." Danni mentioned to Sienna. Both girls had lost their voices slightly from crying. "I'll stay with Maxine. She needs me right now." Sienna croaked back. Danni nodded her head and turned to search for Ste and Sunil's room. She had to ask a few people but she did find them. They were still lying on Sunil's hospital bed and were chatting quite happily with their fingers intertwined above their heads. Danni knew this was going to be tough but she knocked and entered bravely.

"G'morning, my dear! How are you feeling?" Sunil greeted. She didn't respond with words, which immediately worried them both. She sat down and cleared her throat. "Is everything all right?" Ste asked. They sat themselves up against the wall at the head of the bed and examined her face. She had obviously been crying excessively and she struggled to make eye contact. She looked up eventually and spoke. "The baby… he didn't make it…" she uttered. There was a long silence that followed her words and she turned her eyes to the floor once more. "He's dead?" Ste muttered. She shook her head before burying her face in her hands. Sunil squeezed Ste's hand and rested his head on his shoulder. The news was truly devastating and there was really nothing that could be said about it. "Maxine and Sienna are with him now. I don't know if you want to go and see them or not…" she said after another silent pause. "We will, of course… I think we'll give her some time first, though." Sunil assured. Danni left to get some water and to return to Sienna and Maxine.

Ste and Sunil didn't know what to say, they just lay in shock. "That's rough, ain't it?" Ste mumbled. Sunil replied with a sombre sigh. "What if that were my kids? I've put them in danger before." Ste realised. "You won't anymore, though. You're going to be a great dad. You've got a job now!" Sunil smiled at him. Ste thought about the time when he was a very good father. He wanted nothing more than to see them right now. Maybe he could call their mother, Amy and beg her to let him see them again. It had been months since he last saw them.

Sunil and Ste wanted to wait for another while before going to see Maxine so they had bought some food and drinks from the cafeteria. They took their food back to their room and Sunil discussed everything that had happened when he was held hostage in the flat. Ste couldn't help but think about his past with domestic abuse; both as an abuser and a victim. There really was so much that Sunil and Ste had to learn about each other. They had the time to do that now, though. Ste knew he would have to open up about his past eventually, but it would have to be done in stages. Sunil had a fairly turbulent past, something he never opened up about unless it was with Danni. It was inevitable that he had been through so much seeing as he did travel so much. Coincidentally, Ste had suddenly asked him to speak about his past.

"Well, what do you want to know?" he replied shyly. "I just want to know what you've been up to. What your story is, where you've been… I feel like I just talk about myself all of the time." Ste smiled. It took Sunil a moment to figure out what he was going to say or where he was going to start. He told Ste about his distant relationship with his parents and how that lead to him being so close to Danni and her family. He had also spoken about how he had built a life for himself. With the lack of supportive parents, he relied on himself from a young age to make it. He got his first job at fourteen with a family friend to start saving up for university. This family friend turned out to be an overly-aggressive man who used to physically and mentally abuse Sunil (which made Ste uncomfortable). He found solace in music and used that as an escape method. He paid for his own piano and guitar lessons for years. Travelling was yet another way for him to be away from everything. Ste listened in wonder and felt like he was beginning to see the reason why they gravitated towards each other so much. They were nothing like each other but they both had suffered and had made mistakes.

Once they felt ready to go and see Maxine, they headed through the wards to find her. They met Sienna near the bathrooms. She was just returning to Maxine and Danni so they followed along. Sienna seemed sterner in her tone and facial expressions than usual. As they approached the children's ward, they spotted Maxine and Danni sitting outside the baby's room. Maxine's eyes were blank and appeared to be very sore. "Maxine has arranged for someone to come and collect the baby this evening and he'll be taken to a funeral home." Sienna uttered before they were within hearing distance. Maxine did not look up as they arrived nor did she begin to cry again. She seemed vacant and wasn't responsive to anything anyone said. Danni held her close. They had all been through something rather intense but Maxine had been dealing with this since she first got together with Patrick. She was never going to be the same again.

Sunil and Ste went to see the baby one last time by themselves. Ste was deeply affected by the image of the baby's body completely still. He was lost for words. The baby appeared angelic even to them. He symbolised innocence, tragedy, injustice and peace all at once. Sunil stood back a bit because he knew this moment was hitting Ste much harder. He was a father and his children were still practically babies. Sunil rubbed Ste's shoulder in support and comfort as they paid respect for the unnamed baby.

The following few hours were tremendously stagnant. They all just wanted to go home and sort everything out. It was at a certain point that Sienna and Maxine realised that they no longer had a home. Maxine hadn't spoken for hours, but in yet another period of silence, she spoke. "I'm leaving." Everyone looked to her. Tears were appearing in her eyes again. She had obviously been thinking deeply about where to go from here. "I'm going to America. I'm going to go and live with my sister there." she nodded. Sienna grabbed her hand. "Are you sure about this? What about your son?" she asked. "He has to be buried here. Definitely. I won't be able to stay here, I won't! I won't be able to live around the corner from my dead son. I'm not selfish, am I?" she turned to Sienna and Danni for their response. "Not at all!" Sienna reassured her. "You've dealt with so much here. You always wanted to go and now you can. I'll be here to care for his grave. He'll never be alone. You need this."

Maxine almost smiled but it quickly turned into more tears. She collapsed into Sienna's shoulder. She knew this is what she had to do.

The weather over the following few days was annoyingly decent. The presence of scorching heat all day was totally unwelcomed by Danni, Maxine, Sienna, Sunil and Ste. The funeral for Maxine's baby was understandably tough. The majority of the village showed up to pay their final respects and to show support for Maxine. His tiny wooden coffin looked almost unusual and was decorated with flowers people had brought. As it lowered into his grave, Maxine took one last look before closing her eyes and lifting her head to the sky. In a few days, she could take her memories with her son to America and she could begin to build her life once again.

Ste was once again limping in pain as the adrenaline that fuelled his heroic efforts had long worn off. He and Sunil walked home together arm-in-arm as Danni and Sienna did the same on the opposite side of the street. Danni had offered Sienna her room to stay in until she had sorted out a new place to live. They past Sienna and her father's former flat on the way home. The walls were blackened from the fire and the ground below was still flooded from the amount of water that was blasted in to control the fires. Nothing was said about whether Patrick's remains were recovered or not. Sienna looked bitterly at what was left of her home but let her face lighten up as she looked away. It was a new beginning for her, also.

The day had arrived that Maxine was set to leave for America. Her sister, Mitzeee had previously left the village and was happy in America. Everyone wanted the same for Maxine. Maxine had lost the vast majority of her belongings in the fire so this could not have been a fresher start. Danni and Sienna bought her one final outfit to get her there and a new handbag to carry on the plane with her. After that, she was a free women. They had arranged for Dodger to drive her to the airport that afternoon. Danni and Sienna wanted to see her off so they took up the remaining two seats in Dodger's car. Maxine stood at the door of Dennis' house and everyone queued up to hug her goodbye. Dennis and Blessing were first. They had been through a lot together when Patrick was abusing Maxine. She had already began to cry. Usually, this would make her furious because her make-up was ruined but she had not been the bubbly Maxine everyone knew since recent events. She had to rediscover herself now. Others from around the village arrived to say goodbye, also. She crouched into Dodger's car, struggling with her new high heels which Danni had bought her. They were her favourite peachy colour. "You ready, then?" Dodger smiled at her delicately. She took a deep breath and shut her eyes. "Yes. Yes, I am." she exhaled. Sienna and Danni jumped into the seats in the back and they were ready to go. Everybody waved as the car drifted off around the corner and out of sight. Ste slipped his hand into Sunil's. "Bless her," Sunil smiled, "she'll be fine."

Dennis and Blessing re-entered the house and were visibly upset. Blessing had her arm around Dennis' shoulder as he sobbed. "I'm just going to miss her so much!" he exclaimed. "We all are, babe! Be happy for her!" Blessing smiled.

Ste pulled Sunil away from the commotion and into the living room for a moment. "I have something to tell you." he grinned. Sunil had no clue what Ste could be talking about but allowed him to continue. "I've just been on the phone with Amy… She's going to let me see the kids this week!" he beamed. Sunil's face lit up. "That's so great! What did you say to her?" Sunil gasped. "I told her I had a job and that I was drug-free since she last spoke to me and then I spoke about you a bit, y'know…" he blabbered in excitement. "What about me?" Sunil asked. "Well, like, just that I had someone looking after me, someone good. I think she'd be a lot more comfortable leaving them with me if there was someone like you here, too." he explained. "Oh, so you want me to look after them with you?" Sunil laughed. Ste's face dropped with worry. "You do want to, don't you? You don't mind."

"Of course not, dope! Come here!" Sunil pulled him into a hug. Ste shrieked in pain and Sunil let go and panicked. "Sorry! Sorry!" he said. "Do you think the kids will like me?" Ste twinkled a smile once more and kissed his boyfriend lovingly. "Of course they will!"


	13. Chapter 13 - Rising Notes

Sunil awoke early the next morning before everybody else and headed downstairs to make everyone something to eat for when they woke up. He figured that Danni and Sienna were going to be delicately sensitive for the next while as they tried to grieve for the loss of their baby step-brother and the departure of Maxine. The house was eerily quiet until the bacon had started to sizzle in a pan.

The crackling and the smell of the cooking bacon seemed to have done its job as movement could be heard from upstairs. A couple of moments later, Ste appeared at the top of the stairs. He stumbled down to the kitchen groggily and walked straight over to Sunil to rest his head on his chest. "I don't know why you're so tired, you slept like a baby last night! Took up more than half of the bed too!" Sunil explained. "Did I? Sorry. I have work today so I thought I'd get up earlier than usual…" he yawned. "Make sure you text or call Amy today to sort out a time and day to see the kids, yeah?" he reminded him as he turned over the bacon once again. "I don't want to sound too desperate, though. She only told me I could start seeing them again yesterday, don't you think it'll sound a bit rushy?" Ste replied as he took a seat at the table. "Hmm, it might do but I think it sounds like you just really want to see them. See how you feel later!" Sunil said as he placed a plate of bacon and bread in front of Ste and kissed the top of his head. "You didn't hear Danni or Sienna moving around up there, did you?" Sunil whispered. "Um, no, I don't think so…" Ste answered as he scoffed his first mouthful of bacon sandwich. "Will you get me some ketchup, please?"

Danni woke up suddenly from a nightmare she had experienced all night. It was a recurring replay of escaping the burning flat but each time, someone different died in the fire. She saw Sienna, Sunil, Ste, Maxine and Dodger all burn and scream in turn. She did not see her baby step-brother, however. He was not present in the dream. Why wasn't he with Maxine or Dodger? Had he already burned? Was he left behind? Did he exist? The most horrifying part of this nightmare was Patrick's booming voice echoing through the illusion. At times, his voice was a whisper and she could feel his breath in her left ear. He would say vulgar things about her mother and about everyone Danni loved. She couldn't escape it. Even when she woke up, it felt as if someone had been whispering in her ear. The only person beside her was, of course, Sienna. She woke up soon after Danni and took a moment to take the morning in. "You were crying in your sleep last night." Sienna uttered as she sat up in Danni's bed. Danni could have guessed. She remembered crying in the nightmare as she watched her friends and family burn to death over and over again. "We're going to get through this." Sienna assured her, grabbing her hand. "I know, I know… I just, I never got to hold him properly. I feel like I have let him down, or something." Danni said with a lump growing in her throat. "Don't be ridiculous! You are his big sister and you always will be. It doesn't matter how long you knew him, it's not your fault or his. It's Patrick's fault. This was all his fault. Maxine and her baby would still be here if it weren't for what he did. He's gone now. We don't need to worry about him any more. We just need to find a way to be stronger and walk forward with what little time we spent with our brother." Sienna too, was fighting back tears. "We need to be strong for Maxine. She's going to find a way to move on and so should we. It's over now."

They applied their make-up after freshening up (although they weren't sure if it was worth it considering how emotionally soft they were at that time) and trooped downstairs. Ste and Sunil were cuddling/snoozing on the couch with _Loose Women_ playing quietly in the background. The smell of bacon was still wafting around the house so they presumed the two plates of bacon left by the microwave were for them. They didn't feel tremendously hungry but they hadn't eaten since before the fire so in order to physically get through the day, they felt it would be wise to at least try to eat.

Ste arrived home later that evening after finishing his shift. He was not supposed to be working because of his injuries but he insisted that he continued to work in his efforts to prove himself to everyone. Tony was as lenient as he could be in letting Ste do the safest jobs he could find. Dennis and Blessing were the only ones home when Ste threw his jacket on the coat rack by the door. Dennis was noticeably quiet, presumably because he was still worried about Maxine and was missing her. Blessing wasn't as droopy as her boyfriend but she lowered her excitement levels a little to avoid being totally inappropriate. Dennis was already talking about sending letters to Maxine to tell her how much everyone is missing her but Blessing was insisting that it was too soon. She needed time to settle, even though that was going to be unimaginably difficult. "Where is everyone?" Ste asked once he had changed out of his uniform. Dennis kept his head down and pretended that he couldn't hear. "The girls said they were going to visit the grave and Sunil is gone into town. He didn't say why, though." Blessing explained when she realised Dennis was going to remain quiet. Ste wasn't sure what Sunil could be up to but he knew the girls were going to be spending as much time as possible at the grave while the sadness was still fresh. "Who's doing dinner today, then?" Ste asked casually as he plopped himself onto the sofa. "Well, you're the chef!" Blessing taunted. "Nice try! I'm knackered and I have two broken ribs, need I remind you?" Ste laughed. "Pizza it is then!" Blessing grinned as she handed him the menu and the phone.

Shortly after the pizzas had arrived, Sunil returned home with a large box that he was almost struggling to carry. He placed it down by the stairs and let out a tired sigh of relief and straightened his back. "What in the world is that? Did you get me an iPhone?" Ste winked. "Keep dreaming, sunshine! Seeing as I'm sticking around here for a while, I thought I might as well make this place feel more like home, so…" Sunil started as he spun the box around to show its contents. "I bought myself a keyboard!" Sunil beamed. "Can you play?" Blessing asked as she jumped up from the arm of the couch beside Dennis. "Yeah! It was on offer at a music shop for a really good price so I took it! It's second-hand, but hey! It's proper nice!" he smiled as he re-read the features on the side of the box. "I see you've all sorted dinner out for yourselves, then!" Sunil said as he eyed up the pizza boxes. "Yeah, sorry, we didn't know when you were going to be back." Blessing giggled. "That's all right, I'll just take some of Ste's." Sunil winked as he sat himself down next to his boyfriend and swiftly nicked a slice from his plate. Ste looked hilariously furious. "Sorry! I'm just having the one slice! I'm starting a diet soon!" Sunil negotiated. "A diet? Eugh." Ste groaned. "Well, yeah. I'm going to stop eating meat and gluten and eat more brown foods." Sunil smiled. "So, chocolate?" Ste suggested as he lowered a new slice of pizza into his mouth from above.

Before the others had finished, Sunil carried his new investment to his room to set it all up. He felt like a small child on Christmas morning as he cut open the box and began to take out the wiring and the manual. He threw it all to the side and slid out the keyboard. It was spotlessly clean and a very good brand. He wiped its surface with his hand and couldn't wait any longer, he had to play it. A stand was included in the box so once he had it positioned by the bed, he plugged it in and took a seat. It had been around two years since he had last played a piano. He had come across one on his travels that he adored but he only got to spend a couple of seconds with it. He missed the structure of the keys and the feeling of playing out notes so much. He wanted to make his first song on his new keyboard something special. He thought vigorously for a moment for a song that was worthy to be the first and one that he could vaguely remember how to play. He settled for Beethoven's _Moonlight Sonata_ after a moment and positioned himself comfortably. He guided his fingers to what he remembered to be the right places, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. There was something spiritually pleasurable about this routine for him. He began to play the song from the beginning. He messed up within ten seconds but slowed down and started again. This time, he had made it to thirty seconds without messing up. He vividly remembered how he would always force a smile and try to laugh whenever he got frustrated when learning the piano as a young teenager. He used it not only as a method of never giving up, but also as a way to keep his piano-playing time a peaceful time. It always worked for him and it still did. He chuckled under his breath before trying again from the start. He had now reached forty seconds. However, he felt a presence behind him. It was Ste.

"That was wicked." Ste smiled before taking a seat beside him on the bed. "Do it again." He played the song once more. The first few sections of this particular piece were relatively simple. The further you got into it, the harder it became. Sunil expected to feel pressure having someone observe him playing so closely but he felt even more relaxed. He reached a comfortable cadence in the song to finish it and he exhaled proudly once he hit the last note. "Your fingering is really good." Ste grinned as he raised his eyebrows suggestively. Sunil couldn't help but laugh at his cheesy face. "The last time I heard that was from my piano teacher." Sunil chortled. Ste looked slightly unsure of whether that was a joke or not so Sunil had to elaborate. "He meant the fingering of the notes, obviously."

Ste rested his head on his shoulder as he watched him play more songs from his past. "I've never heard any of these songs. Can you play something like, Katy Perry or Beyoncé?" Ste asked after a while. "These are mostly my own songs, you wouldn't have heard them before. Let's see, I can play some Lady Gaga for you?" Sunil suggested. "Nah, I'm not big into her. Can you sing?" Ste answered. "Wait, you don't like Gaga? We're going to have to break-up, I'm afraid!" Sunil laughed. "I like to sing, I don't know if I can, though." Sunil admitted.

"Will you sing for me?" Ste asked innocently. Sunil went red in the face. "What? Like, now?"

"Yeah! Go on!" Ste nudged. "Sing whatever you want."

Sunil began to panic slightly and tried to think of a song he knew all of the words to that he could play. "Okay, I think I know one… I'm probably going to butcher this and forget the words so don't laugh! I swear, if you laugh, I'll move to another country!" Sunil threatened as they both laughed in anticipation. Sunil geared himself up once again and took a deep breath.

He began to sing the lyrics, "_You and I were meant to be, ain't no doubt about it. no way to hide that sort of thing. Now, I'm waiting for something better. Ain't nothing better worth imagining._" He kept his eyes shut tight as Ste watched him. A few words later, he went blank and stopped. He began to swear as Ste started laughing again. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he apologised. "What's so funny?!" Sunil chuckled back.

"It's just… you're wonderful." Ste smiled. Sunil was beginning to blush. "You think so?"

Ste nodded and leaned in to kiss him. Blessing skipped into the room, however, and applauded. "Nice! Can I have a go?" she asked excitedly as she took a seat next to them on the bed. They refused to stop kissing and just fell back on the bed, giving her room to sit in front of it and play. Sunil raised his thumb to give her permission. She began pressing random notes and talking to herself whilst playing with the settings and activating the drum machines. She danced along and turned to them. "Are you gonna join in? Come on!" she clapped. They were too interested in each other, however and completely ignored her.


	14. Chapter 14 - I Only Have Eyes For You

"Sienna and I are going to move in together once we find a good place." Danni announced the afternoon of the following day. "I don't want Sienna getting a new place and being alone so I want to go with her." Danni smiled. "I suppose that makes sense. Plus, I'll have an extra room to rent out if I need to." Dennis said while scratching his head. Sienna sat absentmindedly on the sofa and had her hands wrapped around a cup of tea. "Do you have any idea when you'll be moving out?" Dennis continued. "Well, we've looked at a few places but we can't be sure yet. I'll let you know, though." Danni promised. "Have you told Sunil?" he asked as he started to rip open some letters that were stacked on the table. "Yeah, yeah. He thinks it's a good idea. Sienna's my sister so I think we need this time together." Sunil made his way down the stairs and grabbed his jacket. "I'm just going to get Ste from work and walk him home, do we need anything from _Price Slice_?" he asked out loud so everyone could hear him. "I don't think so, mate." Dennis replied vacantly as he read through a letter. "A house would be lovely." Danni said sarcastically. Sienna smirked slightly but still hadn't moved her eyes.

Sunil strutted his way through the village to _The Hutch_ with his hands in his pockets. He purposely came a few minutes early so he could talk to Tony before Ste finished his shift. He opened the restaurant's door and stood by the till to wait for Tony, who appeared from the back a moment later. "Ah, Sunil. How can I help?" Tony said cheerfully. "I hate to be nosey, I just want to know if everything's going okay with Ste." he mumbled quietly. "Oh, yeah! Everything's fine! Better than fine! He has been fantastic since he came back, like a different lad altogether. What have you been putting in his tea, eh?" Tony joked. Sunil laughed before being grabbed by the waist from behind. "All right, gorgeous? Not talking about me, are you?" he grinned. Tony answered 'yes' at the exact same time that Sunil answered 'no'. Ste looked thrown off and looked back and forth between them to see who seemed more honest. "Well, yeah, we were. I just wanted to know how you were getting on, that's all. I wanted to walk you home today so…" Sunil answered awkwardly. Tony made a mockingly cheesy kissy face behind Sunil's back at Ste, who just laughed and linked arms with his boyfriend before making his way to the exit with him. "Oh yeah, I have a surprise for you today!" Ste remembered as they walked out into the breezy streets. "I got my first pay today so I thought we could celebrate by going out for a few drinks and maybe for dinner, or something?" Ste said gleefully as he patted his right pocket. "Aw, you're taking me out on a date now, are you? Well, I'm hardly going to say no to that!" Sunil blushed. "Are you going to ring Amy today about the kids?" he continued in a more serious manner. "Eh, yeah, I should really, shouldn't I? Let me have a shower and all first and then I'll ring her." Ste replied. "Yes, please shower. You smell like hot oil and onions." Sunil pointed out.

Sienna and Danni were both worried that they weren't going to find a place to move in to in the village and would have to be a distance away from everyone. They had walked around a few times to just see if there were any houses or flats for sale. They both knew that the burned down flat was absolutely not an option, even though they could afford to renovate it and transform it into an entirely different place. To start fresh, they had to be under a fresh roof. Ideally, they wanted to stay in the student house but sharing a bedroom wasn't always going to be easy. They had collected so many brochures for different houses/flats and spent a lot of time online looking for available places but nothing really stuck out to them. Anything they did like was way too far away. They had to be close enough to the grave and to their friends otherwise it was not going to work out.

Ste and Sunil prepared for their date in Sunil's bedroom. Ste had moved the majority of his essentials into his boyfriend's room seeing as he was sleeping there every night. "What should I wear?" Ste fussed as he stood in front of a small pile of his clothes. "Why are you asking me? This was your idea! Personally, I'd say wear your tracksuit bottoms but you'll probably hit me." Sunil suggested. "Tracksuit bottoms? Are you serious?" Ste looked funnily at him. "No, not really! But, you do look fucking adorable in tracksuit bottoms. Seriously, you're the only person I know that pulls them off." Sunil admitted. Ste held a pair of tracksuit bottoms up against himself and swerved his hips around jokingly. "I'll pull them off for you any time." he guffawed. "Seriously, what should I wear, though?" he returned to a whiney tone. "Whatever you want! I'm going to wear jeans and a shirt so just wear something like that! Since when do you care about what you wear, anyways?" Sunil asked. Ste looked slightly offended. "I just want to look good for you, that's all!" he said, unfolding an inky blue shirt and eyeing it up. "As I said, you look good even in lazy clothing so you really don't have to try that hard! That shirt makes your eyes look lovely, actually. Try it on." Sunil concluded as Ste threw the shirt on. "Yes. Just, yes."

Once they were ready, Danni knocked on the door and walked in. "Um, Ste, someone's on the phone for you." she said as she handed him the phone. He squirted some aftershave on his neck and grabbed the phone from her. "Hello? Oh, hi Amy." he widened his eyes and looked at Sunil in excitement. Sunil leaned his ear towards the speaker and listened in, too.

"Ste, listen, I think I might have… not thought about it properly when I said you could start seeing the kids again… I'm sorry, I just don't know… I don't think it's a great idea." she explained. Ste's face lost all expression.

"No, no! Amy, listen, you can trust me! You don't need to think about anything!" he blurted out in panic. "I don't know… Can we just give it another few months? It's too soon to tell if I can trust you yet." she sighed. "You can trust me! I promise!" he argued. "How? How can I trust you, Ste?" she replied in a slightly angrier voice.

Sunil snatched the phone from Ste. "What are you doing?" he asked as Sunil walked off with the phone. "Amy, hi, my name's Sunil. I'm Ste's boyfriend. Listen to me for a sec, he has worked so hard for this and you need to give him this chance! He told me everything that happened between you two and what he has done in the past and you need to understand that he has changed! He is working again now and his boss couldn't speak higher about him. He literally saved my life a couple of nights ago by rescuing me from a flat that was burning down and he did it all with two broken ribs. He has not stopped talking about Leah and Lucas since I got here. Please, let him see them!"

Amy was silent for a few moments after Sunil stopped ranting. She sighed heavily and tried to talk but couldn't figure out how to start the sentence. "I-… I guess I can… Yeah, I'll let him see them, fine…" she said eventually. Sunil handed the phone back to Ste with a grin that could have torn his lips. "Amy? I promise you, you can trust me this time! There's no one around me that's going to put them in danger." Ste added. They continued to talk for another few minutes to arrange a time and day for her to drop the kids at the house. Ste hung up and let out a sigh of relief. "They're coming tomorrow, twelve o'clock." he breathed. After a moment, he realised what he had just said. "They're coming tomorrow! I'm seeing my kids tomorrow!" he roared. "More reasons to celebrate tonight then!" Sunil winked.

They marched downstairs to leave for their date. Danni sat curled up on the couch with another property section from the newspaper. "Have a nice time." she said blankly as she flicked over another page. Sunil looked at Ste before looking back to her. "Do you want to come for drinks later?" Sunil asked. She did think about it for a second but shook her head. Ste was busy thinking about how Sunil had done this with him the first night they knew each other. Ste was also hesitant about going out but decided to go in the end. "C'mon, we're going to head over to _The Dog_ at around nine once we've had dinner so meet us there!" Ste contributed. She put the newspaper down, stood up and smiled. "All right! All right! I'll be there. I'll try and convince Sienna to come, too. It won't do us any harm, I guess. I'll see you both later." she said as she walked towards the stairs. Ste and Sunil both grinned simultaneously and left giddily.

"Where are you taking me, anyways?" Sunil asked as they walked into the evening. "Well, I didn't want to copy your idea of taking me into town so I'm keeping it more original and unique and taking you to _The Hutch_." Ste winked. Ste thought he would be unimpressed or disappointed by his choice but Sunil hadn't even eaten there before. Sunil had also grabbed his hand and rested his head on his shoulder so he concluded that he was okay with it. "Are you taking me there because we'll get free food, or something?" Sunil joked. "I'll be getting a free dinner, not you though!"

It wasn't tremendously busy in the restaurant because it was a weekday so they had the choice to sit by the window. Tony wanted to serve them so he sent his waitress (and step-daughter) Sinead to do something else while he fetched them some menus. He placed them down in front of them and took their orders for drinks. "I'll just have water, please." Sunil decided. Ste kicked him from under the table. "Have something else!" he whispered. Sunil ignored him as Tony took the drinks orders to the bar. Ste looked quite upset and angry. "Are you just having water to keep the bill cheap?" he suddenly asked. "What? No! Don't be ridiculous! You know I'm not drinking fizzy drinks anymore for this diet and I want to save the alcohol 'til later!" Sunil replied confidently. Ste looked rather embarrassed at his hostility. He apologized and calmed down as the drinks arrived. It took a long, awkward period of silence until they talked to each other again. They pretended to read the menu even though they had both decided what they wanted some time ago. Sunil grabbed his hand to get his attention. "Let's just enjoy this, okay? I've never been taken on a date before so let's not ruin it for ourselves." he smiled. Ste nodded and squeezed his hand back. "Just don't order the roast beef, there's none left." he giggled.

Tony arrived at their table with a single rose in a stand which he placed in the centre of the table with a free bottle of wine. They quickly decided to ditch the 'no drinking' rule they had made for themselves and popped the bottle open. Their food came shortly afterwards and they immediately tucked in. "That wasn't planned, I swear." Ste smiled as he poured some more wine for Sunil. Once they had finished, Ste proudly paid for everything. "That was amazing, I loved it." Sunil beamed at Tony. He was flattered as he gave Ste his change. "Are you off to watch a movie now or something?" he said to Ste as they walked towards the door. "Nah, we're heading out for drinks over at _The Dog_." Ste nodded across the street to the pub. "Ah, drinking. I keep forgetting I'm old." Tony laughed.

"Thank you so much for that, it was lovely." Sunil said as they made their way across the street. Ste pointed to his cheek, indicating he wanted a kiss. Sunil happily obliged. It seemed fairly quiet outside _The Dog In The Pond_ upon arrival also. It turned out to be fairly busy, however, once they stepped inside. Every seat was taken apart from one table in the corner. They rushed to it and threw their jackets on the seats to claim them. "I wonder where Danni is," Sunil mentioned as they looked around, "she'll probably get here soon." They shifted themselves towards the bar to order drinks. Ste held out a ten-pound note and asked for two pints. He turned to Sunil with the two pints in hand after they were served and handed one to him. "What are you staring at?" Ste asked, noticing he was distracted. Sunil pointed towards the bartender with his head and a cheeky grin. Ste didn't know what he meant. "He's hot, isn't he?" Sunil whispered. "Who? Darren? Psh!" Ste brushed off as he carried his pint to the table. They sat down and got comfortable. Sunil was still looking at the bartender and it was starting to annoy Ste. "Hello, I'm over here!" Ste waved his hands in front of Sunil's eyes. "Sorry! He's just literally the most attractive man I think I've ever seen." Sunil admitted openly. Ste's face had turned quite sour as he looked over at Darren. "Well, he's married so you're stuck with me." Ste tried to calm down. "Is he happily married, though?" Sunil winked but he noticed Ste did not find it funny at all and quickly started drinking his pint. "I'm allowed to find other men attractive, Ste! Lighten up! It doesn't mean I'm going to do anything about it! Like you said, he's married!" Sunil explained. "Oh, so if he were single and gay, you would?" Ste argued back. "Of course not! I'm a one man's man! I could look at any guy on the planet but I only have eyes for you!" Sunil was almost begging him to understand but Ste did not look very convinced. "There are endless amounts of attractive guys out there but none of them are you, you're special!" Sunil nudged. Ste fought hard to not let it happen, but he couldn't help but smile. "You mean that?" Ste asked, looking over at Darren. Sunil grabbed his hand to bring his attention back to him. "Of course I do."

Sunil received a text from Danni shortly after he cheered Ste up.

"_I don't think we're gonna b there tonight. Sienna is miserable and I just don't feel ready yet. Maybe another time? Xxx_"

Sunil showed Ste the text, sighed and stuffed his phone back in his pocket. "I'm really worried about them." he admitted. "They'll be like this for a while. We just have to ease them back into everything. It's going to take some time." Ste replied.

Moments later, a man and woman, both around the age of twenty, stumbled into the busy pub holding cases of musical equipment. They carried their cases to the top of the pub and started taking everything out. "Must be live music tonight…" Ste said as he peered over everyone else to get a closer look at them. The duo plugged in their acoustic guitars and began tuning up. They ended up playing for over an hour and their entire set was phenomenal. Although the singer (the man) wasn't that great, they knew how to put on a good show. The received applause after each song and even received an encore. Once they had finished, Sunil rushed up to talk to them as they packed away their equipment. 

"That was _so_ good! You guys are amazing!" They looked so much different up close than from the other side of the room. The woman had a cute, button-nose and long, flowing black hair. The man wore a typical shirt and skinny-jean combo and had scruffy, mousy hair. The woman smiled nonchalantly and the man said thank you with a bit more enthusiasm than his partner. Ste joined them and gave the woman a casual head-nod (she didn't acknowledge him and got back to packing). "That second song you did gave me chills! You've a lovely voice." Sunil beamed at him. Ste didn't like the tone Sunil had said that in and stood a bit closer to him. "Thanks, again! I appreciate it." he smiled back. "Are you from around here?" Sunil asked as they finished packing up. "Well, not far. We're touring the area and then we're heading out further." The man responded. "We're actually looking for a third member, too." he said as he looked to his band-mate, who looked like she just wanted to leave. "Well, you were both incredible! Will you be back soon?" Sunil asked as they began to walk out. "We're playing in town next week. You can come to that if you want. Actually, you could come to our band practice tomorrow if you want." he suggested. Sunil looked extremely interested. "I would _love_ that! Let me give you my number and just call me tomorrow with a time and place." Sunil said as he called out his number to him. Ste stood awkwardly behind them with his hands shoved deep into his pocket with an expression similar to the woman. He just wanted them to go already. "What's your name?" Sunil asked as he typed his number into his phone. "Oh, I'm Cal. This is Megan, or Meg." He pointed at her but she was staring at the wall. "Right… I'm Sunil. What's the band's name?" Sunil continued as they walked towards the car park. "The Nets." Cal replied joyfully. "Why are you called that?" Ste grunted from behind. "Because whenever either of us fall, we catch each other and we hope to do that for other people." Sunil turned to Ste and held his heart and mimed an 'aw'. Ste looked disgusted and unimpressed. They packed up their stuff into the boot of their van as Sunil and Cal continued to chat. Once they had said goodbye, Ste muttered a "thank God for that" and made his way back to the pub. "Can we get back to _our _date then, please?" he almost shouted. Sunil looked at him and then at the van and then back at him. "You didn't think that was… Oh, come on, Ste!" Sunil laughed but Ste seemed genuinely serious. "You haven't sounded as interested in me all evening as you were with him!" Ste ranted as he stopped and turned to Sunil. "Hey, I love music and he was a good musician! I was just letting him know that! I didn't know he was going to invite me to a band practice!" Sunil retaliated. "Come on, don't make me explain this again. I am yours and yours only!" Ste just shrugged and began to walk off. "Where are you going?" Sunil called after him. "I want to go home!" he bellowed as he stormed off down the street.


	15. Chapter 15 - Kids Will Be Kids

Ste chose to sleep in his own bed the night before. His quarrel with Sunil last night ended with Ste stomping his way to his bedroom moments before Sunil had arrived back from their date which had been fantastic for the most part. Danni had asked what was wrong but Sunil just shrugged his shoulders and went to bed soon after.

It was now almost twelve o'clock in the afternoon and Ste wasn't even awake yet. Sunil had sent Danni to knock on his bedroom door an hour before but he clearly didn't hear her. Instead, Sunil threw open his bedroom door and marched his way up to his bed and began shaking him. "Oi, Ste, get up, the kids will be here in like, fifteen minutes. Are you listening? Get up!" Ste's eyes opened slowly and he rubbed them vigorously, clearly unaware of the time. "What do you want?" he said grumpily. "The kids, they're going to be here in fifteen minutes. Get up." he ordered as he turned to leave the room. Ste looked at the time on his phone and almost fell out of the bed. He raced into the bathroom to shower and threw on any clothes he could find once he was done. The doorbell rang just as he was finished.

Ste wanted to be the one to open the door so he made his way quickly down the stairs and opened the door. "Daddy!" Leah and Lucas shouted joyfully together as they almost tackled him to the ground. Amy tried to make them calm down but they were no longer listening to her. Leah had grown slightly since the last time Ste had seen her but she still maintained her childish innocence. Her hair was still in the adorable plait that Ste loved. Lucas had also shot up quite a bit and was now almost reaching the same height as his older sister. His blonde hair was shorter than it had ever been and he seemed so grown up compared to a few months before. Ste hugged them tightly and couldn't remove the grin from his face or the tears forming in his eyes even if he tried. Sunil also couldn't help but smile from the kitchen as he watched the two tell their daddy about how much they had missed him.

Amy handed Ste two bags with all of the belongings they were going to need. She gazed around at the house that she never really like in the first place. She had noticed it was a lot cleaner (thanks to Danni and Sunil's rigorous cleaning efforts) but still wasn't at the point where she was thrilled to be there. She also noticed Ste's bruises on his arms and the healing wounds on his face. She quickly realised they were most likely from the huge incident that he hadn't properly explained to her yet. She then spotted Sunil in the kitchen and waved to him. "You must be…" she started as she looked at Ste. "Sunil, yes. Nice to meet you. Would you like a drink or something?" Sunil asked politely as Ste was given a drawing by Lucas. "Oh, no thanks. I have to head off." she said shortly. She looked back and forth between Ste and Sunil before asking if everything was okay as she had picked up on the tension and the distance between them. "Yeah, of course! Everything's fine, right Ste?" Sunil looked towards Ste with a smile. "Um, yeah, fine…" he mumbled before getting back to looking at Lucas' picture. "Right, well then, I better be off. I'll collect them on Saturday afternoon, okay?" Amy said to Ste as she opened the door. "Yeah, all right. Thanks, Amy. Take care." he said as she said goodbye to the kids and disappeared through the door. Ste was making Sunil feel awkward standing in the hallway. He wanted to say hello to the kids but he felt as if Ste wanted him to go back to the kitchen. "Is that your new boyfriend?" Leah asked her father as she stared at Sunil. Lucas was hiding behind Ste slightly but was also staring at him. "Eh, yeah, he is. That's Sunil." Ste said plainly. "Right, c'mon, let's get all your stuff upstairs!" he said as he slung their backpacks over his shoulder and lead them to his room.

Sunil also decided to go upstairs moments after to be alone in his room. He felt extremely uncomfortable and unwelcome to being anywhere near Leah and Lucas even though he was essentially the reason they were here. He passed Ste's bedroom and heard them all chatting inside. He pressed his ear against the door, paranoid that Ste was telling them not to speak to his boyfriend. "He looks like Daddy Brendan, doesn't he daddy?" Leah chirped. She received no reply at all from her father. Sunil didn't know how to feel about that remark or whether it was something good or something bad but he knew Brendan was a sensitive issue with Ste and something that even his kids probably should not bring up. Sunil continued to retreat to his room and shut the door slightly behind him. He closed the curtains and sat on the bed with his head in his hands. It was totally inappropriate that Ste was doing what he was doing. He wanted to go and find a hotel somewhere and stay there until Saturday so he didn't feel so shut out but that would just be shutting himself out. When he was younger, he would write a song on the spot on his piano that illustrated how he felt in that moment. It didn't need to be written down or have snazzy lyrics, it would just be something to distract him from thinking about it too much. He pulled his keyboard towards him and turned it on before playing out a few chords. He kept the volume relatively low and just closed his eyes and let his fingers tell the story.

Danni and Sienna walked to the crematorium to visit their brother's grave that afternoon. Being in a house with two active children was a bit off-putting for them right now so they needed to be out. The grave was located with all of the other unfortunate, innocent lives that died way too young. They couldn't help but notice the ages and the sweet messages on the headstones of the other children. Once they had reached his grave, they kissed their hand and then touched his headstone.

It read, "_The baby of Maxine. Gone way too soon but never forgotten._"

The flowers from the funeral had already started to wither and were being damaged by the weather. "We should probably get some more flowers soon." Sienna said emptily as she pulled out some of the more unsightly flowers. Danni put her arm around her and they stared at the little teddy bear sat in the middle of the grave. "I think we should ring Maxine today, just to check up on her and to let her know everything is okay here." Danni said after a moment. The wind was becoming a lot more intense as they wrapped up their visit and binned the dead flowers.

After almost an hour straight of playing the same song, Sunil opened his eyes and exhaled, allowing his frustration to leave him. He looked up and saw Leah was standing in the doorway of his room. Sunil wasn't sure if he should say hello to her or welcome her in. "That was nice." she said quietly as she walked carefully into the room. She looked around her and then stood by the keyboard and stared at it shyly. "Can you teach me how to play?" she asked innocently as she brushed her finger around the different buttons of the settings. "Of course." he replied as he moved himself over to give her some space to sit on the bed. She stared at the keys with a huge smile on her face and simply pressed one at random and then giggled as the note played out. "What song would you like to learn how to play?" Sunil asked as she tried to read the settings. "Umm, can you teach me _Air Balloon_ by Lily Allen?" she said with a huge grin on her face. "It's my favourite song!" Sunil was taken aback by her enthusiasm. He certainly knew the song but wasn't sure of how to play it. "You listen to Lily Allen? Smart girl! Let me try and figure out how to play that one and then I'll show you, okay?" he replied. She shook her head happily and watched him figure out what notes made up the melody. It was simple enough and he had figured out the chorus quite quickly once he located the first few notes. She clapped her hands excitedly as she prepared herself to play. "Okay, I'm going to play it really slowly and then you copy the same notes I play on your half of the piano, okay? If I'm going too fast, tell me and I'll slow down for you. Ready?" he smiled. She placed her finger on the same note as Sunil on her end of the piano. Sunil began to play it out and she watched with an adorable concentration face as she tried to follow along. He was amazed at how well she was doing. Even though it was a one-handed and simplified melody, she played the whole chorus without mistake on her first try. She looked extremely proud of herself and immediately demanded that he showed her again. After a few more times of playing it spot on, she sat on Sunil's lap all of a sudden and begged him to show her how to play some more songs.

After another hour of playing, little Leah had managed to move onto playing songs she had never heard before. Sunil had played out some other simple songs for her a few times and then she repeated them back to him flawlessly. "You're really good at this!" he told her as she gave him a hi-5. There was a knock on the door as she continued to press out the melody she had just learned. It was Ste. "Leah, what are you doing in here?" he asked. She did not notice him at first. "Oh, Daddy! Look! Come here and watch me play the piano! I'm really good at it! Sunil told me so, he taught me how to play!" she said gleefully. He made a face as if he shouldn't be in Sunil's room but entered anyway to watch his daughter. She perched herself confidently on Sunil's lap and waited for him to provide her with some bass notes like they had been doing before. Sunil played out a simple four-note progression for her and she played out the melody she had been practicing with him. Sunil grinned as she hit and timed each note perfectly. He applauded her when she finished and she continued to applaud herself. She looked up to her father and he had tears in his eyes and was unable to control his smile. "Isn't she amazing?" Sunil said to him as she gave Sunil a huge hug. Ste nodded and wiped his eyes as she ran over to him to hug him, too. "Leah, could you go downstairs and watch TV with your brother now? I just need to have a private talk with Sunil." Ste asked her calmly as he kissed her forehead. Sunil turned off his keyboard and adjusted himself, knowing this was either going to go really well or horribly wrong. She nodded and skipped out of the room proudly. "Don't touch anything downstairs either!" he shouted after her as her footsteps were heard running down the stairs.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Sunil said as Ste took a seat on the end of the bed. "Can we forget that yesterday ever happened?" he sighed. Sunil looked slightly confused as to what Ste meant by 'forget'. "I think we should just get over it and get along, especially with the kids here now and all that. I want them to feel comfortable around you." he continued. "For the sake of the kids, yeah. But, we need to talk about last night. You still haven't told me what the problem is and you made me feel really shitty earlier." Sunil reasoned. Ste took a moment to think and rubbed his upper lip. "I was angry at you showing that Cal guy, whatever his name was, more attention than you showed me. And the whole Darren thing… I just got angry!" he admitted. "You're jealous." Sunil concluded directly. Ste wanted to deny that but his face showed that he knew that it was the truth. "I suppose you could put it that way, yeah…" he mumbled. "I think you had a bit too much to drink. I told you, there is no one else that I want to be with right now. I'm allowed to think other people are attractive and I am certainly allowed to be friendly towards other guys. It doesn't mean I'm going to run off with them behind your back." Sunil said firmly. Ste dropped his head and realised that the drink probably did play a major role in his overreaction. "We're fighting way too much already. That's a problem and it needs to stop. Right now, I am with _you_. If we're going to keep finding ridiculous reasons to fight and if you keep pushing me, I'll have no choice but to leave you. I can't stay in a relationship if you can't even allow me to be friends with other guys." Sunil grabbed Ste's hand as he bit his lower lip in shame. "Do you honestly think I'm looking at any other guy seriously when I have you, the fella that literally saved my life a few nights ago? If you are, you're completely delusional." Sunil finished. Ste sighed loudly. "I'm sorry, all right?" he said, grabbing Sunil's hand with his other hand. They stared into each other's eyes for a moment. "Can I have a hug, then?" Ste smiled as he held out his arms. "Are you sure, with your ribs and bruises and all?" Sunil hesitated. "I ran through a burning flat and pretty much carried you down five flights of stairs with it so, c'mon!" he said as he pulled him into a much-needed hug. Sunil held him gently and kissed his neck. "Daddy, _iCarly_'s over now." Leah said as she reappeared at the doorway with Lucas. "All right, I'm coming, I'll make you some food in a bit, okay? Actually, show Lucas that song you played on the piano." Ste said as he gestured his kids into the room. "It's a keyboard, actually." Sunil corrected. Ste hit him across the face with a pillow, which made the kids chuckle. "Don't hit Daddy Sunil!" Leah laughed as she sat herself up on the bed again. Ste and Sunil looked awkwardly at each other and began to laugh, too. "Are you going to say hello to Sunil, Lucas?" Ste asked before Leah started to play. "Hi, Lucas! I saw your picture that you drew earlier, it looked really good. I'm going to go and stick it on the fridge!" Sunil said. Lucas was too shy to talk and cuddled in to his sister to hide his face. "Thank you." he muffled from under his sister's arm. She shrugged him off and asked him to watch her as she tried to remember the melody she had learned earlier. Unsurprisingly, she repeated it perfectly once again and received applause from them once she had finished.


	16. Chapter 16 - Love Notes

The kids had already made themselves very much at home by leaving toys and other belongings in each room of the house. Ste had prepared a very decent chicken pasta bake for them using his re-discovered love of cooking. Once they had finished, the kids left the kitchen table and rushed back into the living area to watch more TV. However, Sunil was in the living area and had laid out a selection of colouring and drawing utensils on the table. "Lucas, I know you love to draw and colour so I was wondering if you'd like to draw some pictures with me." Sunil said as he sat down by the table. Lucas' eyes were buzzing at all of the different coloured colouring pencils. He still hid behind his dad's arm slightly but he nodded his head shyly. He sat down a comfortable distance from Sunil and began picking out some colours that he liked. Sunil handed him a sheet of paper and took one for himself. "What's your favourite colour?" Sunil asked him as he picked up a lead pencil to sketch. "Um… green!" he shouted. "My favourite colour is purple!" Leah added as she grabbed a piece of paper for herself. They immediately got busy sketching out whatever they could think of. Sunil looked up at Ste, who was shaking his head in disbelief with a grin on his face.

"What have you drawn there?" Sunil asked after almost an hour had passed. Lucas wasn't entirely sure what he had drawn. It looked like some sort of cartoon lizard-man but he looked very proud of it. "That looks really cool! What about you, Leah?" She had drawn a picture of herself playing Sunil's keyboard. "What did you draw?" Lucas asked Sunil timidly. Sunil held up his picture. It was of Leah and Lucas drawing right in front of him. He added in their adorable focused faces as they scribbled on their pages. Lucas was stunned at how realistic it looked and begged Sunil to let him keep it. "Of course you can keep it! You can pack it in your bag and take it home with you!" Lucas was thrilled and ran upstairs with it, followed by his sister. "I didn't know you could draw." Ste said after taking a seat on the floor beside Sunil now that there was space. Ste pulled out a page for himself and started doodling. "I took a lot of art classes when I was younger… What are you drawing?" he replied. Ste held up his sheet, it read "_I Love U_". Sunil looked at it strangely before saying, "Y-O-U". Ste stuck out his tongue at him as Sunil started to pack away the colouring pencils. Ste cleared his throat audibly to get Sunil's attention. "What?" he asked as he turned to face him. Ste pointed at the picture again.

It only occurred to Sunil then that Ste had just said that he loved him for the first time. He felt an intense flutter start in his head and race down all the way down to his legs. He was speechless as Ste stood up and took his hands before pulling him closer. "I love you." Ste said out loud. "I love you, too." Sunil breathed as he tried not to cry. "And, I would take you upstairs right now and prove it to you but the kids are here and I still can't walk up the stairs without running out of breath so that will have to wait." Ste chuckled. "A kiss will do, for now." Sunil replied as he slid his hands down to his waist.

Danni and Sienna headed out for desert at _College Coffee_ that evening and took a seat at the same table they had met at before becoming Patrick's hostages. "We're only a few days into house-hunting and I'm already sick of it!" Danni sighed as she sat down with a lemon cheesecake. "We'll find somewhere, don't worry." Sienna smiled as she put down her plate of Victorian sponge. Dodger strolled into the café moments later before queuing up and ordering a coffee. Before he rushed out of the door, however, Sienna waved over to him and gestured him to come over. He hadn't noticed them at first but happily joined them. Danni was still feeling slightly awkward about her first experience with her half-brother at _The Loft_ but was hoping he had forgotten about it. "All right, girls?" he smiled as he took a chair from another table and sat with them. "What have you been up to?" "Nothing too exciting, we're just looking for a place to move into. I'm staying with Danni at the moment but we figured it would be a good idea to find a place of our own." Sienna explained. "Any luck?" Dodger asked, looking at Danni. "Nope, not really. We want to find somewhere that's still close to everyone but isn't mega expensive… There's really not many places that we like up for sale anywhere near here." Danni replied. Dodger thought for a moment and suddenly slammed his hand down on the table, causing their cutlery to jump a little. "Why don't you move into the boat?!" Dodger proposed. They looked at each other and appeared surprised, confused and unsure all at once. "Dirk is moving in with Cindy this week so there'll be a free room! You'll be in the village but away from everything." he continued. Sienna had once lived on the boat with Dodger so it was familiar to her. "That… actually sounds like a pretty good idea but, the whole point of us moving out is to not have to share a room all of the time." Danni clarified. Dodger looked like he still had more to say. "Not a problem, I'll move out. One of you can have my room! You'll just have to put up with each other for a short while until I leave!" he grinned. "Well, where are you going to stay, then?" Sienna asked. "I'm going to renovate Patrick's old place and move in there!" Dodger announced. Danni and Sienna were utterly shocked at his revelation. His tone suggested that he really wanted to do this and had been thinking about it for some time. Sienna wasn't entirely sure how she felt about it but if Dodger really wanted to move there, she couldn't exactly refuse.

"I've just put the kids to bed, shall we head to bed also?" Ste winked as he returned to the living room. "Um, I would but I'm going to that band practice thing now…" Sunil replied. There was an uncomfortable pause as Ste's face went from flirty to bitter. He tried to mask it and forced himself to be casual about it. "Oh, all right, then… Um, what time will you be back?" he croaked. "I'm not sure, I doubt I'll be too long, though. I'll be wanting to come home for some bedtime cuddles, so…" Sunil said awkwardly, trying to mimic Ste's casual act. Ste just nodded and dragged himself upstairs. A part of Sunil really didn't want to go now because he felt guilty but there was a specific reason that he wanted to attend this band practice that he couldn't stop thinking about all day.

Sunil struggled to find the garage in which they had arranged to meet. It was a little out of the way from the village but he knew he was close when he could hear amplified guitars in the distance. He strolled through the night towards a lit-up car park with a few garages nearby. He followed the guitar's calls and knocked on the door of one of the garages. It was flung open and Cal greeted him. "Oh, you made it! Sorry you had to walk all this way in the dark." he said as he stood aside to let him in. The garage was basically concrete walls and floor with very little inside it. The acoustics were dreadful because of the openness and the coldness of the room but Cal and Meg didn't seem to care. They tuned up as Sunil took a seat to the side. He wanted to ask them last night if he could join the band but he obviously had to deal with Ste's angry outburst. He noticed a keyboard case sitting beside their guitar cases. Before they started playing, he jumped up. "You guys have a keyboard?" he asked. They both turned to look at it. "Yeah, our keyboard player left last week but that keyboard is mine so it's just sitting there. Why, do you play?" Cal asked. Sunil nodded his head with an excited grin on his face. Cal immediately put his guitar down and rushed over to take it out of its case. He plugged it into the wall, switched it on and stood back to allow Sunil to show him something on it. Sunil played out a quick jazz improvisation piece. Cal stopped him half-way through, realising he knew how to play very decently. "Do you want to play with us?" he asked, also now excited. Sunil nodded extra enthusiastically this time as he brought the keyboard out of the corner at towards the guitars.

Ste lay in bed and kept checking his phone every few minutes. Every passing moment left him more and more paranoid. He didn't like this Cal guy and couldn't stop thinking about how well he and Sunil got on the night before. Cal was threateningly attractive and talented and now, Sunil had gone to visit him instead of being home with his boyfriend. He tapped his fingers off of his chest rapidly and bit his lip as he tried to push out all of these thoughts, but they weren't going away. He kept picturing Sunil and Cal all over each other even though Ste had told Sunil that he loved him for the first time earlier that day. He really believed that he meant it, too. He had never told someone that he loved them this early but Sunil was everything he needed. From a supporter to a potentially very decent parent. Nothing was helping him settle. He had had enough. He grabbed his phone and was about to call Sunil before Leah appeared at the bedroom door. "I can't sleep, daddy." she said quietly as she rubbed her eyes. "Why not?" he replied irritably. "There's too many noises outside and there's loads of shadows on the walls and I'm scared." she peeped innocently. Ste sighed and lifted the blanket to signal that she could climb into bed with him. She skipped over to the bed and threw herself in, hurting Ste in the process. She tucked herself into her father's arm and almost instantly drifted off.

Another hour had passed, it was now one o'clock in the morning and Ste lay wide awake, waiting to hear the door open and close downstairs. He couldn't be sure that Sunil was cheating. Not yet, at least. He was almost certain they were leading up to it, though. He felt sick at the thought of Cal flirting with his boyfriend, impressing him and winning him over. Sunil seemed hesitant when he had told him that he loved him earlier and that was eating away at his conscience, also. Had he scared him away into the arms of someone else? Ste's paranoia was even making his breathing more difficult. He carried Leah back into her bed and splashed his face with water in the bathroom before heading back to bed as well.

Cal and Meg were both impressed at Sunil's ability to slot right in to the gap in their group. "You're much better than the last guy, anyways." Meg grunted as they finished another song. The entire practice had comprised of them playing covers of existing songs that they all knew and just seeing how it turned out. Cal was clearly very passionate about the sound and was directing everything with detail. Once they had wrapped up and taken a final break before packing up, they sat down with bottles of water. "So, how would you feel about joining the band?" Cal asked suddenly before taking a huge gulp of water. Sunil tried to be shocked at the invitation and as if he didn't know what to say, even though this was why he showed up. Suddenly, he really thought about the practicality of being in a band that would be moving around a lot. He came here to stop moving around so much and he had found someone special here. He wanted to say yes but he had so many important questions. "Will we be travelling together?" he asked. "Yeah, of course! We're going to head further south in a few weeks. We'll be around there for a few days and then we're going to work our way back up north." Cal said smartly. "I'll definitely give it a go!" Sunil beamed. "Great! We're playing in town at the end of the week so that'll be your first gig. We're playing the _Purple Tree_ nightclub at ten o'clock. I'll bring my keyboard so you just need to show up. We'll plan songs to play at practice the day before. Sound good?" Cal asked, extending his hand for a handshake. "Yeah! Can't wait! I better head home, though. I promised my boyfriend I wouldn't be too long." Sunil said as he got to his feet and brushed off his jeans.

"Your boyfriend? Was that the chap that was being all aggressive last night?" Cal asked with a smirk. "Um, yeah! Sorry about that, it was the drink talking!" Sunil laughed nervously. "No worries, I'll give you a call sometime soon then, cool?" Cal winked as he opened the door for Sunil. He nodded, smiled and stepped outside. "Careful on your way home!" Cal said as they observed the heavy darkness of the streets.

Sunil arrived home to an unsurprisingly dead-silent house. Everyone was presumably in bed now that it was almost two o'clock in the morning. He pulled off his jacket and tip-toed his way upstairs to avoid causing the stairs to creak too loudly. He poked his head in to check on the kids. They were both snoring lightly in Ste's bed. He closed their door carefully and brushed his teeth before making his way into his room. "Ste?" he whispered as he took off his clothes. He received no reply from the darkness, he presumed Ste had already fallen asleep. He climbed into bed and tried not to touch Ste because he was considerably colder than him after being outside. Little did Sunil know, Ste was only pretending to be sleeping, he lay with his back to Sunil and kept his eyes closed. Not long after, soft snores were now also coming from Sunil; he was asleep. His phone buzzed in the pocket of his jeans. Ste lifted himself out of the bed and searched through his pockets for the phone. He had one new message from Cal. He opened it and read, "_You were amazing tonight ;) Can't wait for next time!_"


	17. Chapter 17 - Bye

"Did you mean it when you said you loved me yesterday?" Ste asked at breakfast.

"Of course, why would you ask me that?" Sunil replied in genuine puzzlement as he buttered some slightly burned toast for the kids who were chatting happily at the table. He didn't respond but Sunil carried the plates of toast to the table. "There's jam and marmalade in the fridge if you want some." Sunil patted their heads as they began chomping away. He followed Ste into the living area, noticing he hadn't received an answer (or a 'good morning' kiss when they woke up). Instead of sitting himself on the couch, Ste stood by the window and just seemed a little bit distant. "Is there something going on?" Sunil said as he approached him cautiously. "I don't know! Is there?" Ste shouted as he spun around. His eyes were wild and there were drops of sweat visible on his forehead. "Hey, calm down, what's the matter with you?" Sunil responded in surprise. Ste shook his head and marched upstairs and slammed his bedroom door. Leah and Lucas' heads peeped around the wall of the kitchen until they realised they had been caught eavesdropping by Sunil. "Uh, guys, could you wait down here for a minute while I go and see what's wrong with daddy? I'll just be a moment. Don't touch anything, okay?" Sunil said as he followed in the angry footsteps of his boyfriend.

Sunil burst into the room and closed the door behind him. "Would you like to tell me what the hell is wrong with you?" Sunil started. Ste was pacing the room with his hands on top of his head. "Yeah, there's always something wrong with me, isn't there?" he taunted. "Well, come one then! Spit it out! What's the matter?" Sunil repeated, walking up to him. "Why were you home so late last night?" Ste asked aggressively, getting right into Sunil's face. Sunil took a step back, not appreciating his tone. "Is that honestly what this is about? I told you I wasn't sure what time I was going to be home at! What difference does it make?" he hissed back. "All the difference in the world! What band practice takes that long, eh? What were you up to, exactly?" Ste continued angrily. Sunil's face relaxed when he realised where Ste was going with this. "It's Cal, isn't it? You think I did something with Cal last night, don't you?" Sunil started to laugh and massage his face. Ste was looking more furious now that Cal's name had been spoken. "You were gone for hours! I saw the way you looked at him on our date. You're cheating, aren't you? You told me you loved me!" Ste spat hatefully. Sunil shook his head repeatedly and sat down on Ste's bed. "You just don't get it, do you? Why on earth would you think I was cheating on you with Cal? It was a band practice! Meg was there! We played music for hours because, if you had let me talk to you today, they asked me to join the band! And, I said yes so we practiced a lot!" he explained. "Oh, well that is just great, isn't it? Now, you're going to be with Cal all of the time then, aren't you?" Ste nodded as he began to stomp around the room again. "I thought we were through this already! There is nothing going on between me and Cal! We're mates, that's it! I love _you_ and only you!" Sunil replied.

"I saw the text message! From last night! You're lying!" Ste shouted once again. "Oh, so you're reading my texts now too, are you? You have serious trust issues!" Sunil shouted just as loud. Leah and Lucas poked their head through the door. "Stop fighting, please…" she pleaded, visibly upset from the volume of their voices. Neither man said anything for a moment. "Leah, just go downstairs." Ste ordered.

"But, daddy-"

"Go downstairs now!" Ste roared. She began to cry and Lucas took her away from the door. "That text had nothing to do with anything other than playing music. We had a good time and we plan on doing it again." Sunil gritted through his teeth. "Yeah, it won't be long before you'll be doing all sorts of stuff again." Ste mocked. "You know what? I'm done with this. Fuck you, Ste. I have done nothing but _try_ and I have supported you and helped you since I got here but I am not dealing with your paranoia! I got _you_ a job before I even got myself a job. Now, I have one! I'm leaving!" Sunil finished as he turned on the spot and exited the room.

"Wh-where are you going?" Ste followed him to his room. Sunil pulled out a bag from under his bed and began rushing around the room to fill it. "We're going on a little tour and I intend to go with them. Don't bother calling me because I won't pick up." Sunil replied angrily as he stuffed items of clothing into the bag. "W-well, how long will you be gone?" Ste asked, his lip quivering. Sunil didn't respond. He pushed past Ste and rushed downstairs and out of the house.

He tried to avoid communication with Danni at the front of the house but she noticed his anger and grabbed his arm to stop him. "Hey, where are you going? What's wrong?" she asked, seeing that he was crying. "I'm going. I don't know how long for but I can't live like this." he blubbered. She had no clue what he was talking about and asked him to explain. "He thinks I'm cheating on him! We met this bloke on our date. He's in a band. I was just being friendly and Ste got all worked up! I went to his band practice last night and Ste thinks I've cheated with him!" Sunil continued. This was all news to Danni so she had to take a moment to figure out what exactly was going on. "Well, where are you going?" she asked as she saw his bag filled with clothes. "To stay with them. I was at that band practice because I wanted to join the band and I did. We're going on a short tour around here so I'm going with them… I don't think I can come back here!" he gasped. Danni was utterly bewildered at his statement. "You can't leave! Ste needs you!" she said. Sunil pulled his arm out of her grasp and wiped his eyes. "Look after him for me, will you?" he said before turning and trailing away from the house.

Danni marched into the house and barged into every room to look for Ste. She found him in Sunil's room. He was also crying and was shaking uncontrollably. "What have you done?" she demanded as she closed the door behind her. He looked away and seemed extremely panicked about something. "Sunil would _never_ cheat on you, Ste! What were you thinking? You've just forced my best friend to leave! You needed him, too!" she ranted as he tried to calm himself down. "I-I… I thought h-he was cheating on m-me! I saw a t-text on his phone." he stuttered nervously. Danni wasn't taking anything from him and continued. "You were looking through his phone? Ste, he's allowed guy mates! I've never seen you like this! What's wrong with you! Why are you all shaky?" she asked as he had to sit down to breathe properly. "I-I… don't know w-what's wrong with m-me! I don't f-feel right!" he replied, looking to her with worry. She felt pity for him and tried to think of ways she could help him. She sat down beside him and grabbed his hands. "Take deep breaths. Like me, come on." She began to prompt him to copy her breathing in sharply and then exhaling. He followed her rhythm and his breathing eventually evened out. He was still shaking quite a bit but he was able to speak a bit steadier. "Is there something wrong with me?" he whispered as she put her arm around him. "No, of course not. I think you just have some really deep trust issues." she said softly. "That's what Sunil said before he left!" Ste gasped. "You're paranoid! I think it's because of everything that has happened to you in the past. You can't trust him, can you?" she said. He took some more deep breaths and shook his head. "You have nothing to be paranoid about! Sunil adores you. He would never cheat on you." she explained. "Well, it's too late now, isn't it? I've blown it." he realised, shrugging Danni off and biting his nails. He looked around the room frantically, triggering his panicky shivers once again. "Ste, calm down! I'll call him and tell him to come back. Sit down and breathe! You're going to make it worse!" Danni demanded.

Sunil knocked on the familiar garage door. Looking around, the entire car park looked totally different in the daylight. The garage door swung open a moment later and Cal welcomed him in once again. "You look like you've been crying. Are you alright?" he started as he picked up his guitar. Meg was sat on a stool in the corner and was eating a packet of crisps. "Yeah, I'm fine! The wind was just in my face and made my eyes all watery." he smiled. He knew by Cal's face that he didn't believe him at all but he wisely chose not to question it.

They had played for a little over an hour and Sunil checked his phone to see that he had five missed calls from Danni and several texts asking him to call her as soon as possible. He excused himself and stepped outside the garage to call her. "What?" he grunted as she answered almost instantly. "Sunil, you need to come back." she pleaded. "No, I made that clear. I'm not coming back anytime soon." he said flatly. "Listen to me, something is seriously wrong with Ste. He can't stop shaking and I think he's going to do something stupid. Please, just come back. It'll calm him down. You can both talk about it." she tried to reason with him. "Danni, you didn't see what he was like earlier. He was so angry! I've never felt so unwanted in my life! I tried to talk to him but he won't listen!" Sunil argued back. Danni paused for a moment in disappointment. "Look, I'll be here if you come back so we can talk together. Just give it a shot at least." she begged one final time. Sunil debated whether it was worth walking all the way back to receive another earful of accusations. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Okay, I'll be home later." he said before hanging up.

"That was Sunil, he'll be home later." Danni said to Ste, who was still pacing around every room uncomfortably. "Will you take the kids out? I want to talk to him alone." Ste asked. "I can't, I told Sunil I'd be here when you two talk. That's why he's coming back." she admitted. "Well, where's Sienna then?" Ste replied. "She's gone to Dodger's boat to talk to him about us moving in there." Ste started to walk faster around the kitchen. "Look, I just need you to take them around the corner or something! Please! I don't want them to be here when we're talking!" Ste pleaded. "Fine! But, you can explain to Sunil why I'm not here when he gets back." She immediately left the room to fetch the kids and explained to them that she was taking them to the shop for sweets.

Sunil arrived home soon after Danni had left. He entered the hallway and Ste came rushing down the stairs, throwing his arms around him. Sunil didn't respond by hugging him back, he just threw his bag to the floor and asked where Danni was. He knew by Ste's face that she wasn't here so he immediately picked his bag back up and headed for the door again. Ste rushed ahead and blocked his way to the door. "No! Please, hear me out! Let me explain!" Ste begged. Sunil stood rigid with an expressionless face, waiting for his explanation. "I think I have trust issues." he breathed. "Oh, you think?" Sunil said, trying to push past him once more but Ste refused to let him go any further. "No, you don't understand! I think I have serious issues… It makes sense, how many times have I put my trust in people and then they turn their back on me? When you left earlier, I physically could not stop shaking. It was all coming back to me! I need you here to help me! We can get through this but I need you here!" Ste explained urgently. Sunil didn't know what to say that hadn't already been said. "You're paranoid. Seriously paranoid." Sunil said. "I know, I know! I can change, though! I can change! I need you here." Ste refused to let go of the door handle. "I'm willing to help you and I'll stay if you'll answer one question." Sunil started. Ste's face lit up slightly before dropping again. "Have you been taking drugs?" Sunil asked fiercely. He kept his eyes fixed on Ste's to detect any dishonesty. Ste's eyes buzzed around uncontrollably in panic. "No, of course not! I told you already! I'm off drugs for good!" Ste was starting to sweat again and the panic was becoming too much for him. "You are, aren't you?!" Sunil roared, picking up on the several signs that made it out that Ste was lying. He didn't know where to look, his fists were clenched and he was starting to cry again. "I promise you I'm not taking drugs! You have to believe me!" he shouted.

"I don't believe you! And, you know what? It makes perfect sense! You can't stop shaking, you're sweating, you're paranoid and you're putting all of this pressure on me when really, it's _you_ who's hiding something! So, come on, were you taking drugs while the kids were in the house? Is that why you really need me here, to get them from Amy because you know you can't do it alone?"

Before Sunil could do anything, Ste swung his fist at Sunil's face, hitting him directly on the nose and knocking him back to the floor. Within seconds, blood was pouring from Sunil's nose into his mouth and down his chin. He sat up in a dizzy haze and cupped his hands underneath his chin. Ste looked utterly horrified and was starting to shake again. "Sunil…" he whispered, "Sunil, I am so sorry. Sunil!"

He stood up, snatched his bag off of the floor and stormed out of the house, leaving Ste and a small puddle of blood behind.


	18. Chapter 18 - Hunt You Down

An entire week had passed and there was still no word from Sunil at all. Ste kept himself busy by begging Tony to let him work overtime so he wouldn't be left alone in his room to think about anything too much. Before and after work, Ste would try to call him, even though he knew no one was going to pick up. Danni had tried her best to cheer Ste up but even she had left to move in with Sienna on the boat. Renovations of Patrick and Maxine's old flat were underway and everyone just seemed to be drifting in their own directions. Ste's mind felt numb as he had to put up with two constantly active children, Dennis and Blessing nearly every moment of every day. The kids were eventually taken home by their mother, who was thoroughly impressed with what the kids had to say about him and Sunil. Ste half-lied to her by telling her that Sunil was away with the band but would be home soon. Even still, someone was always running around and screaming or shouting so there was really never a moment of peace. Ste wasn't making it any easier for himself as he chose to sleep in Sunil's bed every night since he had left and ended up not sleeping much anyways. The whole world had just stood still. Every day that was passing was pushing him further away from ever getting Sunil back. He had to do something but he had no clue where Sunil even was at this point in time. He never mentioned where the band were touring or where any of their shows were going to be.

He rolled off of the bed and took his phone off the bedside cabinet to text Danni.

"_Hey, could u come round for a min?_"

He didn't receive a reply, but Danni was at the door only ten minutes later. She stepped inside and threw her handbag down and took off her scarf. "What's wrong?" she asked. Ste had noticed that she still wasn't exactly happy with him after he caused her best friend to leave the village, but he thought that bringing him back could make peace with everyone. "I'm going to look for Sunil," he started shortly, "I don't know where he is so I need your help." She wasn't exactly seeing his point and decided to sit down in the living room to really talk to him. "What makes you think I know where he is?" she responded, almost rudely. "Well, you're his best friend. He hasn't answered my calls but he's going to answer yours, isn't he?" Ste explained. "He hasn't answered _any_ of my calls!" she informed him. He was truly shocked that not even his very best friend could get through to him. "What are you planning on doing, anyways?" she continued. "I don't know… I just need to go and see him! I don't even know if he's safe, anything could have happened to him!" Ste blurted. Their first mission was to track down Sunil before they even thought about trying to convince him to come back. "What was the name of the band?" Danni asked after a moment's silence. Ste looked at her in bafflement, not understanding why that was important. "If we know the band's name, we can see if they have like, a Facebook or a Twitter page and then see if they post any upcoming shows and stuff." Danni clarified. Ste's eyes lit up. "That's brilliant!" he beamed, rushing to get Blessing's laptop.

"What was their name? What was their name?" Ste repeated to himself under his breath as he walked up and down the living area. He clicked his fingers and rubbed his face as he tried to remember what Cal had said about the band's name when he met him. "It was something to do with catching people." Ste said indirectly to Danni as he sat back down on the couch. "Catching people?" Danni parroted. He nodded and started to tap his fingers off of the laptop as the information drizzled back into his thoughts. "Something about catching people when they fall… Ugh, what was it?" Ste was beginning to get very frustrated. "Name off things that catch you." Ste said to Danni.

"Arms, hands, people… Um… safety nets-"

"Nets! That's it! They're called _The Nets_!" Ste yelled, making her jump as he flung open the laptop screen and started typing frantically. He scrolled through the results until he found something that would lead him to the band. There happened to be a few bands with that name so he ended up having to visit their individual pages and determining whether he was looking at the right band or not by browsing through their pictures. Danni peered over his shoulder as he made his way through four different band's pages until he finally spotted someone familiar. "That's him," he said sourly, "that's Cal." He clicked into the picture to make it larger and observed the stunningly attractive guitar-player playing and singing at a show in a dark club. Meg was sitting in the background with another guitar. There were no pictures of Sunil, indicating that they hadn't updated their photos at all recently. He continued to the Facebook page to look for any notice for upcoming shows. He read through each detail carefully, as did Danni. One of their most recent posts had the answers.

"_Hey everyone! We're heading out on tour very, very soon! We're going to try and play as many places as we can. You can check out all of our scheduled dates so far below!"_

The post was followed by a long list of dates and venue names that neither of them had ever heard of before. It appeared that they had missed two shows quite nearby already but there was one show happening that night in a small club in the city of Manchester. "That's not that far from us, really. How are we going to get there, though?" Danni said as she read through the other dates. The band were going to be travelling further and further away every show so they had to get to them quick. "There's buses to Manchester! We'll just take one of those!" Ste said as he slammed the laptop shut and got up to grab his wallet and phone. "Well, come on then!" he bellowed as he got ready by the door. "Once we get to the city, we'll just grab a taxi to get us to the club so we don't have to go searching for it." Danni said as they walked briskly to the bus station.

After the bus journey and once they had found a taxi service and told the driver where they needed to go, they took a moment to relax in the back seats as they had been rushing around the city. The show was starting in under an hour so they were likely to get there before the show started. "What am I going to say to him?" Ste asked her. His eyes had almost turned into puppy-dog eyes from nervousness. Danni hadn't thought about it at all, either. "You're going to have to get him alone and get him to listen to you. I don't think this is going to be easy, though. He's not the type to get screwed over twice by the same person." she said. "I didn't screw him over!" Ste replied defensively. "If anything, I screwed myself over."

The taxi pulled up outside of the club. It was called _The Green Glass_ and you could easily walk past it without noticing it as it was crammed in-between two larger businesses. Torn up posters were panelled around the beat down, red door. There was nobody outside waiting to get in so they entered immediately. It was dark and didn't smell too pleasant. They looked around to see a small crowd had already gathered around the stage. Some were at the bar and some were relaxing in the lounge area. They chose not to drink and decided to join the crowd in order to be closer to the stage. Ste wasn't sure if he was going to have to wave at Sunil to get his attention or to ambush him after the show. Considering the size of the crowd, however, Sunil was bound to spot Ste and Danni if he were to look up from the keyboard at all. Not long after, the band appeared on the stage. A few people clapped and cheered while some whistled and called out strange things. They positioned themselves with their instruments. Cal tapped the mic to make sure it was on. "Good evening! We are _The Nets_ and welcome to our show. Before we get started, we'd like to welcome out newest member on the keyboard, Sunil." A few people wooed even though they really did not care whatsoever. Ste edged his way closer to the stage and peered over other people's shoulders to get a better look. As they began their set, Danni noticed that Sunil wasn't looking up from his keyboard at all. She wasn't sure if it was due to nervousness or that he wasn't used to playing on stage. They finished the first song and received a lukewarm reaction from the building crowd. Sunil eventually looked around him, but still didn't notice Danni or Ste. Ste wasn't sure if he should draw attention to himself but Danni threw her arms up and called for him. Sunil looked horrified as he spotted not only his best friend, but his boyfriend standing next to her. Ste looked just as horrified that he had been seen because he didn't know what to do now. Cal also noticed Ste and turned to Sunil to see if he had also spotted him. "Do you want to keep playing?" Cal asked Sunil away from the microphone. Sunil nodded and they continued through their entire set, receiving a gradually increased volume of applause after each song. Almost forty minutes later, they left the stage. Ste hurried over to Danni, unsure of what they had to do now. Fortunately for them, they had to do nothing as Sunil appeared behind Ste immediately afterwards. "Sunil…" Ste breathed as his boyfriend stood before him. "What are you doing here?" he asked firmly, looking from Ste to Danni. Danni kicked the back of Ste's leg to signal to him that now would be a good time to start talking. "I came here because I need to talk to you." Ste replied a moment later. Sunil's face was neutral and he stepped over to the bar to order a drink. "I need you to come home with me." Ste started as he followed him to the bar. Sunil didn't respond and watched the bartender prepare his drink. Cal soon joined them at the bar. "Is everything all right here, fellas?" he asked, ordering himself a drink, too. "Yes, not that it's any of your business." Ste said bitterly. "Cut it out, Ste." Sunil snapped immediately. "Cal, give us a minute, will you?" he said to his bandmate. Cal grabbed his drink and made his way back to the stage again. "Sunil, please, listen to me. I can't live with myself. I've been wasting away at home waiting for you to come back and knowing that you weren't coming back terrified me. And, knowing what I did to you was killing me and I'm so sorry! I just lost it! I hate myself for it!" Ste rambled. Sunil refused to look at him and just kept swirling his drink around. "Even if we don't work out as a couple, your home is back in Hollyoaks. I want you to be around!" he continued. "One thing I cannot stand is when people don't trust me, Ste. Think about everything I did for you for absolutely nothing other than to love me the way I loved you. I have never been in love before and you're the first person I have ever loved but I cannot be around you if you can't trust me. On top of that, you almost broke my nose, Ste!" Sunil said, beginning to fight back tears. Danni appeared from the background again, noticing Ste wasn't doing too well. She gave her best friend a long, drawn out hug. "Why didn't you call me?" she asked as she pulled away from him. "I couldn't speak to anyone… I was just… I wanted to be away!" he blubbered, taking a tissue from the bar. "The kids wanted me to tell you that they said goodbye and that they can't wait to see you again." Ste mentioned quietly after a moment. Sunil lifted his head and looked into Ste's eyes. "They said that?" Ste just nodded his head. "I really want them to see you again too so why don't you come back home with me tonight and we can sort this out because I am falling apart." Ste was now holding back tears, also. "You have to come back, Sunil. You can still play shows, just come home tonight and we can talk." Danni added.

Sunil threw back the rest of his drink and wiped his mouth. "Let me get my stuff and then we'll go." he said after a moment. Ste's face lifted and he opened his arms to hug him. Sunil, however, wasn't quite there yet, and held him back. "Not until we figure this out."

After travelling home in the dark, they honestly wanted to go to sleep but they had a lot of discussing to get through. Ste seemed on edge and unsure of how this was going to go down. Sunil looked around the house as if he had never lived there before, despite the fact that most of his belongings were still upstairs. "So… Um… Where do we start?" Danni began, picking up that no one else was going to say anything. "Let's start with this: I am not interested in Cal. I never have been and I never will be." Sunil stated. Ste looked a little ashamed. "I know… I'm sorry. Don't you understand why I was jealous, though? I want to hold onto you as long as I can, Sunil! Every guy feels like a threat to me. My whole life, I've been outdone and put down by people that are better than me. I couldn't let it happen, not over you." Ste rushed. "That wasn't just jealousy, Ste! You were becoming a borderline controlling boyfriend! You cannot tell me who I can and can't be friends with. It doesn't matter how attractive or threatening you think they might be. I told you repeatedly that I love _you_ and no other person is going to take that away from you! Don't _you_ understand _that_?" Sunil shouted. "You still love me, don't you?" Ste interrupted with concern. Sunil didn't answer and crossed his arms, looking at the floor. "Ste, you need to learn how to control that jealousy around other blokes. This isn't going to work out if you can't." Danni reasoned. "I know, I know! I can't control it yet but you need to give me a chance so I can learn to control it!" Ste begged, turning back to Sunil. They all looked at each other, trying to figure out what they were thinking. "I want to give us another go." Sunil said finally. Ste approached him for a hug once more but Sunil stopped him again. "This jealousy ends today, okay? And, don't _ever _hit me again." Sunil warned. Danni had not known that Ste had actually hit him but remained quiet. Ste nodded and initiated a hug for a final time. This time, Sunil hugged him back, beginning to cry again. "And to think, this time a few weeks ago, we were drinking all of our issues away in Wales." Sunil said to Danni from Ste's shoulder. She laughed and joined in on the hug.

Later into the night, Danni returned to the boat after they talked more at length about what some funny things the kids had said while they weren't around, some stories from some of Sunil's shows and what Dodger was planning to do with Patrick and Maxine's old flat. Sunil had also admitted that he had told Cal about Ste's jealousy of him and that he thought drugs played a part in his paranoia. Ste and Danni were highly uncomfortable about it but Sunil insisted that he was just angry at that time and that Cal was a decent guy who wouldn't judge Ste for it. Everything felt normal again, everything was honest and out in the open so it could be dealt with.

"I missed you so much." Ste said after he and Sunil gazed into each other's eyes for a few moments. "I missed you, too." Sunil smiled back. "I really do love you, you know." Sunil repeated. "I didn't mean what I said about the drugs the day I left. I was just angry, like you. I wasn't angry enough to _hit_ you, but… it was just the heat of the moment." Ste smiled in appreciation and held his hand. "This got pretty messed up pretty quickly, didn't it?" Ste sighed. "I did warn you, though. Remember I said I'm several years' worth of work?" They both chuckled lightly. "I also remember you said something about proving to me that you love me." Sunil said, placing his hand on Ste's leg. "I don't know if you're healed up enough yet and ready but we could at even at least do other things like-"

Sunil was cut off as Ste's lips were pressed firmly against his. "Get upstairs, now." Ste ordered, unbuttoning his shirt. He chased him to his room and they both giggled as they could have easily woken up Dennis and Blessing. "I don't care if they wake up!" Ste announced as Sunil tried to shush him. Ste virtually tackled him to the bed and began taking off his clothes, too. Their breathing was heavy as they rolled around in the sheets, battling for control in a romantic struggle. Sunil managed to power his way over him and held Ste's arms down over his head. "I fucking love you." he panted as they let it become more and more intense. Everything that had happened between them came to surface in a new way. They told their story so far through erotic performance in one fiery, passionate explosion of sexual pleasure.


	19. Chapter 19 - Spilled Coffee

Blessing's high heels scraping and clicking on the hard, wooden floorboards were once again the cause of everybody in the house waking up early the next morning. "Would she ever just start wearing flats?" Ste groaned as he lifted his head off of the pillow. Sunil refused to open his eyes and just made some sort of small noise to insure that he was awake and that he acknowledged Ste's comment. The air was certainly chillier than usual, signalling the beginning of a seasonal shift. Ste hoisted himself up on to his elbows and gazed around the room. Their clothes were scattered all over the floor from the night before and a single ray of sunshine peeked through the curtains, revealing the flight of many dust particles in the air. He rolled over onto his boyfriend and began kissing his arms delicately. Sunil's eyes remained closed but he had a very satisfied grin on his face. "Ooh, someone's very excited this morning." Sunil smiled, feeling something warm and solid pressed up against his thigh. Ste continued to kiss his shoulders and moved to his neck. "Have you ever done it first thing in the morning before?" Ste purred as Sunil let his hands explore his body. "No, but there's a first time for everything, right?" Sunil replied, finally opening his eyes.

"Are you ready to go?" Dennis asked Blessing as he grabbed his car keys from the kitchen table. "Yeah, one minute, these earrings are a nightmare to put on!" she replied, struggling to complete the task due to her large nails. Dennis swung his keyring around on his index finger and whistled a tune as he waited. "Where are you going?" Sunil asked him, emerging from the top of the stairs, blushing and panting as he recovered from his morning 'workout'. "Blessing's got a check-up today to make sure all of her surgery wounds are healing properly. We won't be too long! We might not actually make it in time if she doesn't bloody hurry up!" he teased. "I'm trying! I'm trying! I've almost got it... there, done! Let's go!" she said as she brushed past him and flung open the door. "Bye! Good luck!" Sunil waved as they departed. Almost immediately afterwards, Ste came rushing down the stairs and looked as if he had just seen a ghost. "Amy just rang! She's bringing the kids 'round again today!" he shouted as he picked up some of the rubbish around the living area. "What? Really? How come?" Sunil asked. "She said it's an emergency at work! She's going to be here soon so go and get ready!" Ste continued as he straightened up everything he could and chucked more rubbish into the bin. "Can I at least get some breakfast first? You've worn me out already this morning, I need energy!" Sunil moaned. "No! This place has to be spotless and so do we so go! Have a shower, I want to hop in after you." Ste rushed, giving him a quick kiss in the process. "Or, you could hop in with me?" Sunil suggested. Ste stopped in his track and gave him a serious glare but couldn't help himself and laughed after a moment.

Danni and Sienna were still sharing a room on the boat as Dodger was beginning to make a home out of Patrick and Maxine's old flat. Danni was totally in love with waking up on water and writing with the view of the canal just outside the window. She knew she would eventually become bored of it but, for now, it was bringing a lot of inspiration and quality to her work. She thought about how different her life was only two months ago compared to now. She had discovered that she had a half-sister and two half-brothers. One of her brothers had died tragically and she was also involved in a near-death situation with her best friend. She didn't feel as if Sunil was her best friend any more, however. He had also taken some pretty big steps in his life and Danni felt left behind. They were no longer doing everything with and for each other. Sunil now had Ste. Yes, she had Sienna and Dodger now but, the comfortable happiness that she had gotten so used to was now missing.

Danni browsed through her emails on her phone on the way out of _College Coffee_ later that morning. She walked straight into another body, causing her to drop her coffee. Luckily, the hot beverage didn't spill over her but she was immensely disappointed as she was craving that coffee. "I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" She looked up to see a tall, freakishly attractive man standing before her. She didn't answer as she was distracted by his dark beauty. "I'll get you another one, hold on, I'll be right back!" he said, leaving her for a few minutes. He returned with another coffee and handed it to her. "Thanks." she said hazily, still trying to figure out how this man was so attractive to her. "Sorry, again. I'm Freddie. Freddie Roscoe." he said. She was struggling to reply to anything he was saying. Any minute now and she was sure that she was going to start drooling. "I'm Danni, I live on the boat." she said, admiring his stylish, leather jacket. Returning to his face, she noticed he looked rather confused. "I live on the boat, on the canal, over there!" she pointed out. "Oh, are you Dodger's new girlfriend or something?" he asked cheekily. "Oh, no! I'm his half-sister." she smiled. "Oh! You're that girl people were going on about that was in that fire with Ste and Maxine! That was mental, that was. Did Patrick actually keep you trapped in there?" Freddie asked, not sure whether it was a sensitive subject or not. "Yeah, he had us all locked up. Me, Maxine, Sienna, my friend Sunil and... my baby brother." Danni said. Freddie put the pieces together in his head. He had heard that a baby was involved and had died shortly after. "I'm sorry to hear that... How are you feeling?" he asked in concern. "Well, it wasn't exactly the best way to spend my first few weeks here..." she responded, starting to walk away from the shop. Freddie followed along as they strolled towards the canal. "You've been here a few weeks? How long are you staying here?" he asked. "I'm not sure, really. I was travelling with my friend, Sunil but we wanted to settle somewhere quiet for a while and this place seemed to be the place. It hasn't been the best experience, obviously, but I found some family here." she smiled. They continued to walk alongside the canal before reaching the boat. "I have a lot of work to do so I'm going to head off." she said, turning to take in his beautiful face once more. "Well, if you're sticking around here, it won't do us any harm to go out for a drink or something sometime, will it?" he grinned. It took Danni a second to realise that she had just been invited for drinks with this man. "Um, yeah! Sure! I'd love that. Let me give you my number and you can call me sometime." she said, unlocking her phone to take his number, too.

Shortly after returning to her room on the boat, Danni sat down to begin work on her laptop. She received a text. It couldn't be Freddie already, that would just be odd. She opened her phone and saw it was from Ste.

"_I need you to come round! it's urgent!_"

She replied, "_I can't, soz! Busy working xx_"

A moment later, he responded, "_PLZZZZ! bring ur laptop if u want._"

She couldn't think of why Ste needed her so badly right now. She was guessing Sunil had left again after another row. She closed her laptop, packed it up and trudged her way to the house.

Ste opened the door. "Hello, gorgeous! Come on in!" he beamed. She stepped inside and noticed he was dressed smarter than usual. "So, what's going on?" she asked, looking around for Sunil in case he had actually left again. "I need to ask you a _huge _favour and I promise I'll never ask you to do anything like this again, I promise!" Ste begged. She looked at him sternly, not liking the fact that she knew this was going to be massively inconvenient. "I need you to mind the kids for me while I'm out," he began as she rolled her eyes immediately, "I'm taking Sunil out for a lunch date and I can't leave the kids alone so I really need you to mind them!" he continued. "Ste, I have work to do! I can't just drop everything for you! I'm glad you two are working things out and everything but I can't do this right now!" she said, turning for the door. "Wait! The kids are upstairs watching a movie in our bed, I already told them not to interrupt you! You can just do whatever you need to do here! Just make sure the kids don't set the place on fire or anything!" Ste tried to reason with her. She thought about it for a moment. "You owe me, big time..." she mumbled, throwing her laptop bag on the couch. Ste cheered and gave her a huge hug. "Where are you taking him, anyways?" Danni asked once Ste had let her go. "The cinema!" he grinned. "The cinema? At lunchtime?" she seemed baffled. "There'll be no one at the cinema at this time so, it's actually the perfect time to go! He doesn't know I'm taking him out yet so say nothing when he comes down." Ste added. "Well, you're lucky I don't have kids because you would be babysitting them for me pretty soon because I might be off on a date sometime in the near future, too!" Danni teased. Ste looked intrigued. "This guy bumped into me today outside of the coffee shop and he made me drop my coffee so he bought me a new one! We chatted and stuff and we got along quite well so we swapped numbers and he said he'd call me! He's so fit, too." Danni explained. "Who is he?" Ste asked, becoming more and more interested. "Freddie Roscoe." she replied dreamily, remembering his face.

Before Ste could comment, Sunil made his way downstairs. "Right, mister, you have no plans now, do you?" Ste asked him. "No, not really. Why?" he asked, now also noticing Ste was dressed a little better than usual. "I'm taking you out on one of my infamous, romantic, dramatic dates! Danni's going to watch the kids for us." he explained. "I thought you had that massive article to write today?" Sunil asked her. "Yes! I do! As I said to Ste, you both owe me!" she reiterated, taking her laptop out of its bag.

Once they had arrived in town, they began to walk towards the centre, where the cinema was located. Ste slid his hand into Sunil's as they walked through the fairly busy streets. "We've never held hands in public before, have we?" Ste noticed, squeezing his hand softly. "Nope! There's a first time for everything!" Sunil replied. They both laughed as they thought about their new-found love for spontaneity that morning. "What are we going to see?" Sunil asked as they pushed open the door of the cinema. "I was going to let you choose, actually. Have a look and see what's on, I'll queue up." Ste said, searching for his wallet in his pockets. After a moment, Sunil returned. "I don't think there's anything that good out right now, really." he said, slightly disappointed. "Well, just pick whatever. What's the names of the films?" Ste asked him as he counted up some change. "There's that apes film, a film about that dog that won that talent show, some superhero film, _50 Shades of Grey_ and _The Purge_." he replied. "Let's see _50 Shades of Grey_!" Ste winked. "Seriously?" Sunil chuckled. They both looked at each other for a minute, realising that it could be a good idea. "Should we?" Ste smirked. "Why not? We're still young!" Sunil chortled.

Ste's prediction was horribly wrong as the theatre showing _50 Shades of Grey_ was far from empty. Each row was roughly half-full. They edged their way into some centre seats and got comfortable. "Is it weird that we're on a date, watching porn in a dark room full of other people?" Ste grinned as he placed his drink in the cup-holder. "Anything to keep this relationship interesting!" Sunil snickered. "Shut up, you!" Ste smiled, leaning in to kiss him.

The movie had been on for a while and the scenes were becoming more and more sexual. Some people in the audience giggled like children as the raunchy sex scenes became slightly twisted. Ste placed his hand on Sunil's leg and started rubbing it. Sunil looked at him, slightly horrified. However, Ste was making a dramatic and over-the-top orgasm face, mocking and taunting the film. Sunil tried so hard not to laugh and disrupt the people around him so he buried his face in Ste's shoulder in an attempt to calm himself down. "I have an idea," Ste whispered, "let's make this more interesting. I'll feel you up and you make sexy groan noises!" he suggested. "What? Are you mad?!" Sunil whispered back in shock. "Come on! For the laugh! It'll weird everyone else out! We'll see who can fake an orgasm the loudest!" Ste winked. Sunil continued to giggle as Ste began to put his hands all over him. The suspense between them as Sunil prepared to do this was hilariously intense. Sunil pulled his hand away from his face and let out a reasonably audible moan of pleasure. A few people in the surrounding rows glanced over. Ste was shaking with held-in laughter. Sunil then began to rub and squeeze Ste's legs. People were now watching them instead of the movie, trying to figure out if this was really happening or not. Ste let out a very loud grunt of delight, causing Sunil to hide behind his hands again with laughter. "Come on, see who can go the loudest!" Ste nudged him. Sunil waited for more sex scenes before letting out one almighty roaring orgasm. Everyone in the theatre stared as the two burst out in hysterics. An usher approached them and told them that they had to leave. "Are you serious? We're just having a bit of fun!" Ste argued. The usher shook his head and signalled them to leave once more. Sunil wiped the tears from his eyes as they got out of their seats and left. Their stomach's ached from laughing. "That was hilarious! Best date ever!" Sunil guffawed as they walked back out to into the nippy air. "And you thought I wasn't interesting! Did you see that guy's face, the lad that was like, two seats away from us? I think he was enjoying it!" Ste joked. "Well, I definitely enjoyed it!" Sunil smiled, grabbing Ste's arm and snuggling into it.

"You're really great with the kids, you know that?" Ste mentioned a minute later. "I can see why you missed them so much, they're adorable!" Sunil doted. "They really like you, they told me." Ste added. "They like me? Aw, that's sweet!" he replied, smiling on the inside and the outside. "Yeah! You know, you're the exact type of guy I want around my kids as they grow up." Ste continued, looking into the distance. "What do you mean?" Sunil asked, lifting his head from his shoulder. "Like, I can see us as a big, happy family one day. You and me can get married and maybe see the kids more often or even get our own place and they can live with us. A proper family." he smiled fondly. Sunil didn't know how to respond to that at all. Ste was already talking about marriage and being parents. He chose not to say anything to avoid offending him but Ste had already picked up on his lack of response. "I'm sorry if that was a little full on..." he apologized, appearing to be slightly embarrassed. "We better get back, Danni probably wants to be back on the boat..." Sunil said, trying to change the subject. "Well, don't avoid it altogether! You want to get married someday and all that, don't you?" Ste asked with a tone of worry. "Ste, let's not talk about that right now, okay? Marriage and kids, that's way into the future! Can we just enjoy right now?" he asked. Ste looked rather pissed off but did his best to conceal it. They didn't speak to each other the whole bus journey home.


	20. Chapter 20 - Sadness Within Happiness

After returning home from their lunchtime cinema date, Ste and Sunil both knew their little misunderstanding was not worth fighting over, especially not when the date had gone so well. Danni and the kids were nowhere to be seen or heard so Sunil called her. She had taken the kids back to the boat after their movie had ended. They wanted to watch another movie but there were very few DVDs in the house that were appropriate so Danni had put on one of her DVDs on the boat. "Can you go and collect them, then? I have to be in work in a bit." Ste asked. Sunil nodded in response and grabbed a coat, heading back outside without saying a word.

Sunil climbed onto the boat and knocked on the door, admiring the circular window on it. Danni answered and she looked a lot more relaxed than when she was at the house. "I've just come to collect the kids." he smiled. She stepped aside to let him in. "They're in the back watching _Finding Nemo_ in my room. I thought they'd like it seeing as we're on water." Danni chucked, clicking the kettle on. "How was the cinema, then?" Sunil took a seat on a stool by the kitchen counter. "Oh, it was good." he said plainly. "Why don't I believe you?" she replied, raising one of her eyebrows suspiciously and pouring water into mugs. "Oh, no, it _was _good! We saw _50 Shades of Grey_, long story, and we had a really fun time. It's just... on our way home, we were chatting and he brought up marriage and children in the future..." Sunil mumbled. He waited for Danni to be as shocked as he was. However, she stared at him as if there was more to the story. "What did you say?" was all she replied with. "Nothing! I think that's what the problem was, though!" Sunil shouted, thinking back to Ste's embarrassment and disappointment. "We haven't really talked since..."

In _The Loft_, Trevor sat at the bar, stroking the edge of a glass with his finger. His phone lay beside the glass and began to buzz as he received a call. "Hello? You're on your way up? Okay, see you in a bit." He put his phone back down and threw back the rest of his drink, wincing at the heat in his throat. Footsteps were heard on the metal steps into the club a moment later. The door swung open and a figure entered the room. "Long time no see." Trevor greeted him, kicking a barstool out for him to sit on. "So, what do you want me for this time?" the man said, taking a seat. "There's someone we need to get rid of, for good. Someone who has messed me around too much for my liking." Trevor cleared his throat and poured himself another drink. "His name is Ste Hay. He lives in the student house. I want you to drop off a little surprise for him." he smirked, digging his hand into the pocket of his jacket. His hand re-emerged with a tightly packed bag of a white, powdery substance. He slid it across the bar to the man. "So, what do I do with it?" the man asked, throwing the bag up and down in his hand. "Simple, just break into the house and find somewhere to hide it but make sure it's somewhere where it will be found. Don't break anything at all. It's not supposed to look like a break-in. Make it look as if Ste owns that bag." Trevor grinned again. "Oh, and before I forget," Trevor started, pulling out a pen from his pocket and a sticky note from behind the bar before scribbling something on it, "attach this to the bag." The note read:

_You never get off this track._

"Consider it done, Trev." the man said, shoving the bag into his pocket and turning for the door. "Oi, Cal. One more thing, don't call me Trev."

"Do you think I overreacted?" Sunil asked Danni as she took their cups away to the sink. "I think you overreact to everything, if I'm honest! Remember that time you cried for over an hour because Katy Perry didn't win that award? But seriously, I know it was way too early to bring up all of that kind of stuff, but it's not really a big deal. Just forget about it. You enjoyed the date and you both _clearly_ enjoy each other so just say sorry for reacting that way and move on." she suggested. He let out a lengthy sigh and stood up. "I'll sort everything out later, then. Are you finished your article? You could come back over to mine and we can start gathering the rest of your stuff to bring back here." he said. "Um, yeah, sure! Let me just grab a black bin-liner. You go get the kids. They brought some colouring stuff with them so they'll have to pack it all up." she said as she ducked into the tiny cabinets in the kitchen to root for a black bin-liner. Sunil made his way to the rooms at the back. He opened Danni's bedroom door and widened his eyes when he saw different colours of paint spilled all over Danni's bedsheets. The kids both had guilty faces on them but waited for Sunil to shout at them. "Oh, no. What have you two done, eh? Danni is going to go mental! Quick, pack everything up, we're going to head back to the house now." Sunil told them as he stood at the door. "Will Danni be angry with us?" Lucas asked shyly. "I don't think so, sweetheart. You should have been more careful, though! You should go and tell her and apologise before she sees it herself! Go on." he ordered, giving them space to leave the room. Lucas nudged his sister, whispering to her that she should tell her because he was too scared. "Um, Danni? We had a little accident in your bedroom." Leah said bravely. Danni poked her head up from the lower cabinets. "Oh, what kind of accident?" she asked calmly. "We spilled paint all over your bedsheets and we're really, really sorry," Lucas piped up, "Sunil will buy you new ones, though." he added. Danni and Sunil chortled at his confession. "Not to worry, I'll throw them in the wash later. I might actually get new bedsheets. White bedsheets bore me to tears! Are we ready to go then?"

Cal had thrown on a black hoodie as he made his way to the student house. He had broken in to many houses in the past and often left without a trace. He walked around the house, looking for an open window. Breaking a window or anything in the house was not optional. Trevor's orders were to make this look as if Ste had obtained the drugs himself. No windows at the front of the house were open so he climbed over the garden wall to look at the back of the house. Luckily for him, someone had clumsily left the kitchen window slightly open. He chuckled and shook his head at the stupidity and just had to awkwardly shape himself through the window. Once inside, the took a moment to listen for any movement in case someone was home. As there was no sound other than the slight whirring of the fridge, he began making his way around the ground floor, looking for a place to hide the bag of cocaine. His heart stopped as he heard people at the door and keys being pushed into the lock. He saw Sunil, an unknown woman and two children through the glass. He raced upstairs before the door opened and waited in the hallway to hear if anyone was coming upstairs. They all seemed to be in the kitchen area so he had to make this quick and then he had to get out of there. He heard footsteps near the bottom of the stairs behind him and he panicked. His heart was racing and he had no other option but to hide and somehow escape. He pulled the bag out of his pocket and threw it aimlessly into the upstairs bathroom before running into one of the bedrooms to hide.

"Did you hear something?" Sunil asked Danni as they stood in the kitchen. She shook her head, trying to listen for something. Then, they both heard a distinctive bump coming from upstairs. "It's probably the kids. Did they go upstairs?" Sunil said, turning back to some of Danni's belongings that he had gathered earlier that were stacked on the kitchen table. "Yeah, I think so. I'm just going to go to the toilet, I'll be right back." she smiled, making her way to the stairs. Before heading in to the bathroom, she poked her head into Ste's room where the Leah and Lucas were putting away their colouring equipment. They both thanked her for letting them stay on the boat with her that afternoon. With that cleared up, she headed to the bathroom. As she was washing her hands, she felt an eyelash in her eye. She leaned into the mirror to try and find it to remove it. She noticed something on the floor behind her, something white. She spun around and took a closer look. She picked it up and examined it. "No way." she breathed, realising what it was. She shoved it into her jacket and left the bathroom, not sure what she was going to do with it. She returned to the kitchen and reported that the kids were fine before continuing to gather her remaining belongings. As she thought more and more about it, she realised that this was the first decent bit of alone time she had had with Sunil in quite some time and it was all because Ste wasn't there. Now, she had the power to possibly get rid of him using what she had just found in the bathroom. It would end their relationship for good. Did she have the heart to do it, though? She knew Ste made Sunil happy but he was lying to him once again. Would she really be ruining their relationship or protecting her best friend?

"So, how is that diet going?" she asked, noticing the silence had gone on too long. "Oh, not too bad. I've cut out meat, fats and carbs altogether. I was thinking of going gluten-free but it's too expensive and gluten-free bread tastes vile so it's just easier to sacrifice it!" he laughed. "I'm pretty sure cutting out nutrients altogether is just as bad for you as eating too much of them!" she mentioned, hoping that he knew that. "Yeah, but I can handle it. I'm not like, starving myself or anything, like, I do eat." Sunil replied slightly defensively. "Well, with no fats, meat or carbs, it doesn't sound like you have an awful lot to choose from!" Danni replied in a concerned tone. Sunil stopped responding and felt a little attacked. "What was the name of the diet, anyways?" Danni asked him. "Oh, I don't know... I don't think it had a name. I just saw it on a blog." Sunil replied nervously. This time, she chose not to reply, knowing that he was lying. "Well, I'm going to head upstairs and get some more stuff out of my old room!" she beamed, brushing past him. As she left, Sunil's stomach grumbled loudly. He lifted his sleeve and pinched his skin really hard for a couple of seconds until the pain stuck on his arm in an attempt to distract himself from the hunger for a little while longer.

Ste came home after his shift and felt butterflies as he saw Sunil painting again with the kids at the kitchen table. He quickly remembered why he was angry with him all day in work, however, and the smile slipped off of his face. "Daddy!" Leah cheered as she ran over to him to give him a flying hug. He caught her mid-flight and spun her around. Ste walked over to the table with Leah in his arms and leaned over to give Lucas a big kiss on the cheek. "How are you two doing?" he asked, putting Leah back down. "Good! We watched movies on Danni's boat today!" Lucas grinned. "How was your day in work, daddy?" Leah asked as she dipped and mixed some colours together on a plate. "Really, really good, thanks for asking!" he smiled. "Aren't you forgetting someone?" Lucas called out as Ste took off his jacket to hang up. Ste knew exactly who he was talking about. "You didn't give Sunil a kiss!" he continued. Ste made actual eye contact with Sunil for the first time since they had left the cinema. Sunil chuckled as he ruffled Lucas' hair and winked at Ste before puckering up with a goofy face. A large grin grew on Ste's face as he marched over to him and planted a kiss on his lips and took a seat on his lap. "So, we're cool then?" Ste asked quietly as the kids began chattering again. "Yeah, we're cool. I overreacted, as usual." Sunil admitted, playing with Ste's fingers. "It doesn't matter. I love you." he said, kissing Sunil on the forehead this time. "And, I love the smell of you when you come home from a long day in a kitchen. You could stop wearing aftershave, you know. You're just as sexy when you smell of cooking garlic and onions." Sunil joked. "Well, lucky for you, I brought home a few tubs of food from the kitchen for dinner!" Ste chirped, lifting himself off of Sunil's knee and walking over to the large brown-paper bag by the sink. He pulled out several tupperware containers and started dividing them up.

"Did you make this, daddy?" Lucas asked as he put his first forkful of lasagne into his mouth. "No," Leah interrupted, "he bought it from a shop!" she grinned cheekily at him. "Oi! You can starve then if you're going to be telling fibs!" he winked at her. Sunil was served a large plate of cod with salad. He chewed and swallowed each mouthful slower than usual and declared that he was full before even finishing half of his plate. "You've barely eaten any! If you're not going to eat it, I will! Give us your plate." Ste pointed out before scraping the leftovers onto his and the kids' plates.

Sunil stumbled upstairs moments later and felt a strong feeling of guilt creeping up on him. It felt like he had just eaten enough food for an entire family even though he had eaten less than a kid's portion. He felt dirty and uncomfortable with himself. He put his hand on his stomach and stood in the hallway for a moment, staring at the walls. Without thinking about it any more, he rushed into the bathroom and locked the door. He knelt by the toilet and stared at the water, seeing his reflection. He took a deep breath and proceeded to poking his fingers down the back of his throat. He repeated it several times until fluid began to come up with his gagging. Before he realised what he had done, he had emptied his body again. He did not feel proud of what he had just done but somehow, it felt like the guilt had been puked up, too. He flushed the toilet and washed his mouth out, not sure whether the tears streaming down his face were from gagging or from the sudden shame that washed over him.


	21. Chapter 21 - Arrivals

"Why are you so rigid?" Ste questioned Sunil in bed that night. "What do you mean?" Sunil asked, turning to face him. "It's like you're frozen in place or something. I think someone needs a little loosening up!" Ste replied, sliding his hands over Sunil's body and leaning in to him. "Wait, stop. I can't do this right now." he said abruptly. Ste was now frozen in place, looking concerned and slightly offended. "Is something wrong?" he asked after a moment. "No, I just don't feel well, that's all." Sunil said blankly. "I hope it wasn't the fish, I gave the rest of it to Leah!" he laughed. "No, no! I haven't felt right all day. It's nothing serious." Sunil assured him before turning away from him. "Well, if it's contagious, you can sleep on the couch downstairs!" Ste chuckled. The darkness of the bedroom made Ste unable to see the look of shame and dread on his boyfriend's face. He hated that his past struggles with eating disorders were slowly creeping back into his present life and that it could become a true threat to their already fragmented and unstable relationship. The last thing they needed was more drama to push them apart once again.

Dodger was progressing rapidly as his plans to rebuild his father's flat were well underway. The charred smell was still clinging to the walls and the dampness from the hoses that were used to put out the flames was also contributing to the general grossness of the place. Dodger knew exactly what he wanted to do once the flat was habitable again. He was going to beg Maxine to come back and live with him. He knew she wanted to be away from Hollyoaks forever, especially the flat he was currently standing in, but if she was with him, he felt that she would manage. If that didn't work out, he could always ask Danni and Sienna if they wanted to move in, although they were really enjoying living on the boat.

There was a loud, demanding knock on the student house door later the next day. Lucas ran to open it, followed by Ste telling him to get back and to mind his own business. He opened the door to two young women, both holding a suitcase. Flashbacks of Sunil and Danni's arrival flooded his mind but he was even more confused this time around. "Sorry, are you Dennis?" the woman on the left asked. She was dressed in a baggy hoodie and skinny jeans. She had dark, black bags under her large eyes and her mousy hair was tied up carelessly. The other woman was slightly taller than the former and reminded Ste of a younger Mercedes. She had the most dazzling smile with long, perfectly styled brunette hair. She was dressed like someone from a BooHoo advertisement and had a very expensive-looking handbag dangling from her forearm. "Um, no. He's not here. Why, who are you?" Ste asked, looking back and forth between the two women. They didn't seem to be together by choice, considering how different they both appeared to be. "We were told to come to the student house just outside the village, we're starting sixth form in the college this year." the more glamorous woman said, pushing past Ste to lug her suitcase inside. "Hey! You can't come in here right now!" Ste shouted after her. The other woman followed inside and looked around. "Look, you can't be in here right now, Dennis isn't here! At least tell me who you are!" he shouted, noticing that they were ignoring him and making themselves at home. "I'm Cody," the taller lady said proudly, flipping her hair behind her shoulders, "and this is Rebel." she pointed to the other girl who wheeled her suitcase to the stairs.

Once she had published another article for work, Danni received a sudden phone call from a number that looked oddly familiar. "Hello?" she answered, heading into the kitchen area. "Hey, it's Freddie!" Her face lit up and she felt a slight flutter pretty much everywhere. "Oh, hi! How are you?" she beamed, switching the kettle on. "Not bad, not bad. I'm just finished working on a car and I have some spare time, I thought I could pop 'round and see you." he said. "Yeah, sure! I've literally just put the kettle on so come on over!" She whipped out another cup and dropped a teabag into it. Moments after the water boiled, there was a tapping noise at the window. Freddie had arrived. She signalled that she would open the door for him in one second and quickly filled both cups with boiling water. As she opened the door, he leaned against the door frame and winked. She brought him inside and finished making his tea. "Busy day?" she asked, throwing the spoon into the sink. "Yeah, I'm proper knackered! Did four cars already today." he smiled, sipping at his tea. "Not bad! So, what brings you here?" she said, mirroring him sipping his tea. "Well, I wanted to know if you'd let me take you out for a few drinks or something tonight." he replied confidently. She swallowed her tea incorrectly and began to cough and splutter, covering her mouth with her free hand. Once she had calmed down and mopped up the spillages, she laughed in embarrassment. "Yeah, sure, if you still want to take me out after that!" They agreed on meeting at _The Dog _at 8pm.

Ste rushed around the house with the phone pressed to his ear, whispering "Pick up, Dennis! Pick up!". Finally, after three missed calls, Dennis answered his phone. "Dennis, there's these two girls that have just shown up out of no where saying they're moving in here!" he said before Dennis could ask what's wrong. "Oh, yes. I was supposed to mention that, actually. They're both sixth form students. Let them take Sienna and Danni's old room. When your little ones are gone, one of them can take that room, too." he explained. "Yeah, but what about when the kids come back? I'll be seeing them more often now! They can't just keep moving in and out of rooms and me and Sunil are _not _sleeping on the couch!" Ste argued, watching Cody talk about herself to Sunil in the living area. Rebel sat on a separate chair and stared at them as if she was beating them up in her head. "I better be off, then." Sunil sighed as he grabbed his jacket and kissed Ste lovingly on the cheek. "Wait, where are you going?" Ste replied in panic. "Oh, didn't I tell you? I'm playing another show tonight with the band! I'm already late, actually." he replied, glancing at his watch and heading for the door. "You're just going to leave me here with the kids and these two strangers?!" Ste tried to remain silent but was desperate not to be alone. Sunil mouthed an "I'm sorry" at him before blowing him a kiss and closing the door behind him.

Sienna returned to the boat that evening with a young girl following behind her. Danni walked out of her room, applying final touches of make-up and making sure she had everything in her bag. She turned around and spotted the girl with Sienna and was understandably caught off-guard. "Danni, this is my daughter, Nico. I've just collected her from a relative's house. She'll be staying here from now on." Sienna smiled, looking at her daughter proudly. Nico had a shocking resemblance to her mother. Her naturally straight, thick hair hung to her shoulders and she had stunningly pretty facial features. She did not carry the same grace and sophistication as Sienna, however. Her arms were dropped limply by her sides and she stood with her shoulders and back slightly slumped like most teenagers. She gave a soft smile as Danni greeted her. "Well, nice to meet you, Nico! I didn't know Sienna had a daughter! I'm just about to pop out for the night so don't wait up for me." Danni explained to Sienna before leaving the boat. Nico threw her battered rucksack to the floor and stomped to the fridge. "So, do you like her?" Sienna asked her daughter. "Well, I don't really know her..." she replied smartly, yanking out orange squash from the fridge. "She's your aunt. She's my half-sister." Sienna mentioned, hoping Nico's love of other family members would cheer her up. Luckily, it seemed to do just that. Nico was thrilled at the news and began to ask questions about her aunt immediately.

"Your boyfriend's pretty weird." Rebel said suddenly to Ste as they all sat in silence on the couch. "What makes you say that?" he answered, turning on the TV to create some background noise. "He sat here pinching his arm for like, five minutes. What's that all about?" she asked rudely. "How am I supposed to know? Maybe he just likes pinching his arm in his free time." Ste answered sarcastically before looking towards the TV and flicking through channels. "Does he have a fetish for pain or something? Do you guys have whips and shit in the bedroom?" she chuckled, Cody joining in soon after. "No! What are you on about? Here, watch whatever you want, I'm not sitting with you weirdos!" Ste said, feeling slightly harassed before leaving for the kitchen. He could not wait for Dennis and Blessing to get home. He wanted the two obnoxious students out of the house as soon as possible.

Amy visited without warning not long after and announced that she was taking the kids back, leaving Ste, Leah and Lucas stunned and disappointed. "I'm not going to get to say bye to Daddy Sunil! Can we stay for one more day, mummy?" Lucas begged as she picked up some of his belongings. "No, sorry sweetheart! You can come back really soon, okay?" she reassured him, zipping up his bag. "Ste, is all of Leah's stuff ready?!" she called out. He bustled through the door a moment later with her bag and an openly gutted expression on his face. "I know this was sudden, I'm sorry! I'll drop them here next week!" she sighed, taking the bag from him and following them downstairs. "I'm really impressed, Ste." she noted, glancing around one last time. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Things are just going pretty well for you, aren't they? The house is clean, you've got a job, the kids still adore you and now Sunil, too. I'm happy for you." she smiled genuinely. "Well, I guess even someone like me can change after all." he smiled back, scooping up his son and covering his face with kisses before doing the same with his daughter. "I'm going to miss you both so much! I'll say bye to Sunil for you, he's going to miss you so much as well!" he told them, feeling tears forming in his eyes. "Oh! Mummy, I have to show you something! Daddy Sunil taught me how to play piano! Can I show you? Please?!" Leah pleaded.

Sunil returned home later that evening and was saddened by the sudden departure of the kids. He wanted to make sure that they took their paintings home with them, which luckily, Ste had packed for them. "I suppose we do get some more alone time now." Sunil flirted as he flung his arms around Ste's shoulders and kissed him lightly. "Actually..." Ste began, pulling himself away, "those girls are still here!" Sunil groaned and thrusted his head into Ste's shoulder once he remembered they had two new housemates. "How was the show, anyways?" Ste asked, changing the subject. "Oh, pretty good. Some old guy stood right by the stage for the entire show and was jumping up and down constantly. Even during our slower songs!" he laughed, throwing his jacket aside. Ste chuckled and headed back into the kitchen. "Do you want something to eat? I made tuna pasta bake earlier. And no, I didn't use a packet!" he asked, opening the fridge and pulling out a covered plate. "Oh, no thanks. Pasta, carbs, I can't." Sunil reminded him, turning away to the living area. "You have to eat something! You didn't eat anything before you left!" Ste called after him. "I ate something after the show with Cal and Meg, I'm all right!" he replied in a tone that was clearly a lie. "I know it's not really any of business or whatever but if you're trying to lose weight by starving yourself, you'll only end up sick." Ste said calmly, following him to the living area. "I'm not starving myself! Don't be ridiculous." Sunil was sounding more and more on edge. "Why are you dieting in the first place? It's not to impress me, is it? If it is, you can forget it because I love you exactly as you are!" Ste asked uncomfortably, taking a seat next to Sunil on the couch. "Well, not really. It's just... Cal wants me to lose some weight. It's the whole band's image thing. He reckons we'll attract more people if we're all in shape." Sunil lied, not looking into Ste's eyes. "What, seriously? Babe, I don't think you should be around him if he's going to be saying stupid stuff like that!" Ste responded angrily. "No, no! It's fine, honestly. I want to do this. Not only will it help the band but it is something I just want to do for myself anyways." Sunil assured him. "Promise me you won't make yourself ill." Ste said, grabbing Sunil's hand, trying to get him to look directly at him. "Of course! You're being silly. I'll be fine." he forced a smile.

Ste seemed convinced and began rubbing Sunil's arms and kissing him. In the process of doing so, Ste dragged Sunil's sleeve up, revealing the many bruises on his arms from excessive pinching. Luckily for Sunil, Ste hadn't noticed it and Sunil subtly shoved his sleeve down and grabbed it with his hand so it wouldn't be pulled up again. "Let's go to bed, yeah?" Ste grinned, moving his hands down to Sunil's thigh. They made their way to the bedroom, noticing Cody, Rebel, Blessing and Dennis were all asleep. Ste grabbed Sunil's t-shirt and began to try and remove it. "Wait, let me just turn off the lights first." Sunil whispered, leaving the bed. "Why do you want the lights off? I'm not that ugly, am I?" Ste giggled, finishing what he set out to do the first time around once Sunil returned to the bed. "No, of course not! I just want to try sex in the dark. Apparently, it's better because you can use your imagination a bit more and it focuses on how everything feels." Sunil explained, helping Ste remove his clothing. "So, basically, you want to think of someone else?" Ste joked, using a combination of his lips, tongue and teeth to explore Sunil's upper body. Sunil guided Ste's face back up to his and kissed him repetitively. "Only you can make me feel this good." he breathed before proceeding to show his love for him.


	22. Chapter 22 - Departures

The following morning was a lot colder than usual. The sky wasn't as clear as it had been for the last few weeks and the signs of summer's departure were gradually making themselves known. The sound of Cody and Rebel arguing over who got to use the hair straightener first in their room woke Ste up. He ploughed into their room and had a go at them before heading downstairs. Sunil was awoken some time later by receiving several kisses around his mouth. He opened his eyes slowly to see Ste standing there with yet another breakfast tray and an overly proud grin. "Mornin'! You're going to love this. Wholemeal toast with poached eggs, garnished with pepper and cress." he announced as he lowered the tray onto Sunil's lap. "You're the best, you know that?" Sunil yawned, stretching his arms out and sitting up. The room seemed almost grey as he looked around. He felt his heart leap as he realised his arms weren't covered up and quickly shoved them back under the covers. His bruises from pinching himself had turned from purple to an odd yellowish colour. He made small talk with Ste until he left the room to shower before taking his arms back out to eat the plate of food he knew he wasn't going to keep down.

"Are you not going to make me breakfast?" Rebel asked Ste as he trotted back downstairs with Sunil's empty plate. "Um, no, sorry. I have to go to work now anyway." he said blandly before hurrying out of the door. Cody followed downstairs moments later and was all dressed up. "Where are you going, then?" Rebel taunted, looking her up and down. "No where..." she replied. One thing everyone would soon realise about Cody is that she doesn't need a reason to dress in her best clothing, she will dress that way regardless. "I did have an idea though. I think we should go out tonight and have a look around the town. What do you think?" Cody suggested. "All right, whatever." Rebel shrugged before noticing Blessing had just appeared at the bottom of the stairs. "You're the two new students then, I'm guessing." Blessing said, rummaging through her handbag for her lipstick. They didn't respond other than staring at Blessing for a moment. When Blessing noticed that they were staring, she froze in intimidation, not knowing why. A moment later, she realised as Cody's face looked furious. They were both wearing the same floral dress. Cody marched upstairs in frustration and headed for her room. She passed by the bathroom and heard the sound of someone vomiting. She knocked on the door. "Are you okay in there?" she asked, cringing at the sound effects. "Yeah, I'm fine..." Sunil's voice slurred. She shrugged it off and continued to storm into her room to change her dress.

Over on the boat, Danni had spent her entire morning answering all of Nico's questions. Nico had a strange obsession with knowing everything about newly-found family members and who could really blame her? Danni had explained how she had grown up with no father and then learning Patrick was her father and how his death occurred. Nico sat in front of her with the most concentrated face, showing Danni that she was giving her all of her attention. Nico also explained her story about not knowing her father. This was news to Danni as Sienna had never discussed the fact that she had a child, let alone who the father may be. "I'm going to find him one day!" Nico said determinedly once she had finished speaking. "You can't just go looking for some random man! You're still a young woman! It's not exactly safe, is it?" Danni explained, appreciating her enthusiasm. "Well, you did the same thing, didn't you? You travelled and then came here to look for Patrick once you knew whereabouts he was! Why can't I?" Nico asked in an ironically childlike strop. "I'm a lot older than you, sweetheart! And, I had someone with me, we were having fun!" Danni replied, suddenly reminiscing about how close she was with Sunil not too long ago. There was a short pause as Nico began to think even harder. "Come with me then! Help me find my dad!" she suddenly demanded, her face lighting up with excitement. Before Danni could even formulate an answer, Sienna returned home with some shopping and dropped it on the table between them. "So, how was it last night?" Sienna quizzed Danni as she began unpacking and storing the new groceries. "Oh, pretty good! I would go into detail but there are children among us!" she whispered, winking at Sienna. "I don't need any details! So, Freddie really likes you then, does he?" Sienna continued as Nico realised she really wasn't wanted there right now and left quietly. "I guess so! I mean, we didn't spend very long having drinks. We went straight back to his house within an hour!" Danni grinned, helping with the final few things to put away. They both giggled and continue to gossip about what they got up to in his house.

"Why are we here so early?" Rebel asked grumpily as she stood outside _The Loft_ with Cody in the cold breeze. She was clearly not comfortable wearing a dress and heels and kept fidgeting with herself. "It's not that early! It's nine o'clock! We get in cheaper if we're here before ten so come on!" she urged as they were next in the queue to be let in. Once they were inside, they were slightly disappointed that it wasn't much warmer in the dark club. People were only arriving and there was still a lot of empty space leaving the air chilled. They scuttled over to the bar immediately to start drinking. "What are we having, ladies?" Trevor said huskily to the two new visitors. They spun around to choose their drink but Cody had gone silent, for once. She gazed at Trevor's face as he waited for her to say something. Rebel nudged her as she took her purse out of her bag. "Um... I'll have one of those, please..." she stuttered, pointing to the row of blue-coloured drinks. Trevor looked at her weirdly and left for a moment to get her one of the bottles. Cody pulled at Rebel's arm and watched on as Trevor bent over in front of her. "What's your problem?!" Rebel spat, yanking her arm out of her friend's grasp. "He is so hot!" she whispered, quickly silencing herself once again as he returned. He slammed the bottle down on the bar and opened his hand to receive payment. She dropped the money into his hand, purposely getting a feel of his rough skin. Rebel felt tremendously uncomfortable as she watched their eyes meet. She wasn't sure if Trevor had noticed Cody's obvious attempt of flashing some cleavage and smiling flirtatiously at him. "You're so desperate, he's way older than you!" Rebel pointed out as they both began to sip at their drinks. "Oh, shut up! He's probably not that much older than me. Besides, I'm an adult, I can go for whoever I want!" she replied, flicking her hair confidently. "Fair enough, but I don't think he's on the market, look." Rebel nodded her head in the direction behind Cody. She looked around and saw that Trevor was now with a blonde woman who had her arms flung around his shoulders. "That must be his wife or something..." Rebel clarified. "Yes, I can see that, thanks!" Cody snapped.

Ste had finished his shift at work and crashed out on the couch. He was fast asleep with his arms folded and turned to one side slightly. Sunil came downstairs to get a cup of tea and discovered Ste on the couch. He smiled and approached him quietly. Ste's light snores were adorable. Sunil took his phone out of his pocket to take a picture. He didn't realise his flash function was switched on and the sudden intense light woke Ste up. "Oops, sorry! Congratulations, though. You are now my phone's wallpaper!" Sunil grinned, taking a seat beside Ste. "How was work?" he asked, throwing his arm around him and pulling him into his chest. "Mm, tiring..." he groaned, closing his eyes again. Sunil kissed him softly on the head and began to play with his hands. "Do you want me to bring you up?" he asked, nudging him awake again before standing up. "Yes please..." Ste yawned, holding his arms out like a child waiting for his mother or father to pick him up. Sunil grabbed his hands and pulled him off of the couch and straight into another hug. "I'm not actually lifting you if that's what you were thinking! I will tuck you into bed and read you a goodnight story, though!" Sunil laughed as they made their way to the stairs. "I was thinking today in work," Ste started as they walked towards their room, "maybe we should move out and find our own place." Sunil thought about it for a moment. "That might not be a bad idea, actually..." he agreed, opening the door for him. "I mean, it's getting a bit crowded in here, isn't it? And, we're not exactly students so there's no point in us being here really." Ste said woozily, stripping to his boxers and hopping into the bed. "With the kids coming around more often it would be better if it was just with us, too." Sunil added, closing the curtains and climbing into the bed beside him. "The only thing is, look at how hard it was for Danni and Sienna to find a place that suited them and even still, they ended up somewhere because they were lucky to have a brother who was moving out!" Sunil reminded him. "Yeah, but we'll find somewhere! They were just being fussy. Are you up for it, though?" Ste asked, looking at him. "Sure! I mean, like you said, there's no reason for us to be here really and we'll have more privacy for ourselves and with the kids. It'll be more expensive obviously but I can find a job, I suppose." he answered, thinking about how it would effect his position in the band. He wasn't making enough money from gigs to support a living but he could find something to do in his spare time.

"I love you." Ste said, smiling at his boyfriend. "I love you too." he smiled back, looking deeply into his eyes. They lay there for a moment before Ste spoke. "Are you going to sleep now too?" He clearly wasn't aware of the time. "Nah, it's too early! You get some sleep though, you're up early again tomorrow." he replied, rolling back out of the bed. Ste yawned and rubbed his eyes with his palms before turning over to fall back asleep. "Goodnight." he said, his voice muffled in the pillow.

Danni knocked at the door later that night. Sunil answered, admiring her long coat and fluffy scarf. "Hey, stranger! Come on in!" he said, standing aside to let her through. "I feel like I haven't seen you properly in ages! Want a cup of tea? You must be freezing!" he offered, walking her towards the kitchen. "Oh, no thanks, this is just a quick visit. I actually wanted to talk to you about something pretty important." she said abruptly. Sunil suddenly stopped and looked a little concerned. They both sat down on the couches instead. "I'm leaving Hollyoaks." Danni stated bluntly. "Wait, what? You're leaving?" Sunil gasped, trying to look for a hint of dishonesty on her face. She seemed sternly serious, however. He didn't need to ask her why as she got straight into it. "Sienna has just introduced me to her daughter, Nico. I have a niece. She wants me to go and help her find her dad with her. Sienna won't let her go but I want to. I know how she feels, not having a father and wanting to know who it is. I have to help her! The other thing is, I want you to come with me." Danni explained, trying to make it sound sane. "Wait, hold on, are you being serious?" Sunil asked, still hoping she was going to declare it was a joke. "Yes! I want us to go together, just us and Nico." she repeated. Sunil's face hadn't changed. He looked utterly taken by surprise, confused and in disbelief. "Honey, there are so many things wrong with that! Firstly, Sienna already said she doesn't want Nico to find her dad. Maybe there's a reason for that! Secondly, look at what happened when you came looking for your dad! He turned out to be a psycho! You don't know who you could end up tracking down! And thirdly, I can't leave! What about Ste?!" Sunil raised his voice, fully acknowledging that she was honestly considering this.

She sighed and stood up and began to pace around the room. "I know it sounds crazy but I want to help her! You don't know what it was like not knowing my father! I don't want her to suffer like I did!" Danni argued back. Sunil now stood up, also. "Excuse me! I know exactly how it felt for you because I was there with you every step of the way! We have done nothing but spend virtually every minute of every day together since we were kids!" he shouted back. "Yeah, but it's not like that anymore, is it?! You say that as if you care about me but when was the last time we have spent solid time together alone? Since we've moved here, all you care about is Ste!" she growled, her face becoming red. "That's not true..." he replied a little quieter, beginning to cry. They very rarely quarrelled and it tended to leave them both deeply upset. They both remained silent for a moment, letting the tension diffuse before they both said something they regretted. "Look, no matter what you say, I'm going with Nico. I don't know when I'll be back. I came here to ask you to come with me because you're my partner in everything that I do. You either come with me or you stay here. It's your choice. It's me or Ste." Danni spoke a little lighter but her words were just as heavy. It was a lot for Sunil to take in. His best friend was suddenly leaving him, not knowing when she was going to return. And, on top of that, she was making him choose between her and someone he needed to be there for. "You can't make me choose." Sunil choked as his tears began to fall from his eyes. "I know what you're going to choose," she said, walking closer to him, "but think about it. We're practically family. Ste, he's nothing to you. You've known him for a few months and look at everything he's done already. He's lied to you so many times. You two always fight and break up and then get back together. That's not healthy, that's not you! You belong on the road with me. We have made so many memories together. We are happiest together. Surely, you can't throw that all away for that low-life?" Sunil wiped his eyes with his sleeve and looked to the floor. He knew she had a point but it didn't make it right.

"Danni, I can't just leave. I love you. You're the greatest friend anyone could ever ask for but Ste needs me. I know he messes up and we're not the happiest couple sometimes but I know if I go now, he will do something really stupid and I won't be able to live with myself for it. I love him, too. I'm not going to compare you two and make a wrong decision. You're getting into this way too fast." Sunil blubbered, watching Danni's face examine his. "Make the choice, Sunil. I'm leaving tonight. Make a choice." she said coldly without blinking. Sunil began to cry harder, knowing that this was so wrong. He knew what the right decision was but he knew he was going to lose someone important to him either way. "I'm not leaving, I can't! You're not leaving, either! You're being ridiculous!" he raised his voice again, trying to talk sense into her. She shook her head in disgust and turned for the door. "Wait, stop! Danni! Stop!" Sunil begged as she charged out of the house and back into the cold night without saying a word or looking back.


	23. Chapter 23 - Fast Food

Early the next morning, Cody was already out and about in the village. More specifically, she was loitering around _The Loft_ in order to perhaps catch another glimpse of the man that served her her drinks the night before. If she was lucky, maybe she could even get a chance to speak with him again. She had regretted wearing her signature short dress as the unforgivably cold breeze stung her bare legs. It was that time of year were she would have to change her wardrobe from summery outfits to clothes more suited for the winter months. She had walked around aimlessly for nearly two hours and there was no sign of Trevor.

Sunil was awoken by his phone violently vibrating on his bedside table that morning. Ste lay motionless beside him, clearly too deeply asleep to hear anything around him. Sunil also felt the uncomfortable sting of the cold air as he stretched for the phone. He immediately burrowed back under the blanket once he had hold of it. It appeared that Sienna was calling him. He answered with a voice that was so groggy, it was almost unrecognisable. He hadn't slept very well that night as a result of what had taken place the previous evening. His response was met almost immediately with Sienna's voice in what sounded like an absolute panic.

"Sunil?! Sunil?! Have you seen Nico or Danni?!" she blurted, breathing unsteadily.

Sunil had totally forgotten to think about the fact that Sienna was obviously going to notice that her daughter and her sister had vanished the next morning. He tried his best to make a rational decision on whether he should tell her the truth or not in his morning state and decided that it was best just to tell the truth. Danni had already left him because she thought he had chosen Ste over her. What difference would it make if he ratted out her plans to take Nico on a potentially dangerous search for her real father?

"Um, I don't know how to tell you this, Sienna. Danni came to me last night and told me that she was taking Nico to look for her dad." He paused to hear how she was going to react. He could hear her breathing change from panic to confusion. "I tried to stop her and talk some sense into her but she just left. I'm sorry, I should have told you straight away but I was a mess." he finished, rubbing his face with his free hand.

"Was Nico with her before she left? Is she okay?!" Sienna continued. Ste had woken up at this stage and sat up to listen to what the commotion was all about. "She wasn't with her but Danni said they were leaving straight away..." he answered, feeling Ste lean in with a concerned look on his face. "I have to find them!" Sienna said before abruptly hanging up the phone. Sunil could picture her rushing around the boat to get ready to go out and find them. He had no clue where she was planning on going or how she was going to find them but for some reason, he tried to act like he didn't care.

"What was that all about?" Ste asked, watching Sunil climb out of bed with little expression and acting as if nothing happened. "Danni has left the village and I don't think she's coming back." he replied, picking up clothes from the floor and throwing them in a heap in the corner. "She left?! What for?" Ste continued to question, now also getting out of bed. It had all happened so rapidly that Sunil didn't even know how to explain it without sounding crazy. "Well, Sienna's daughter Nico convinced Danni to help her look for her dad so Danni has taken her... She came by last night to ask me to go with her..." he elaborated, folding more clothes. "She asked you to go? Well, what did you say to her?" Ste moved closer, trying to fully grasp the situation. "I told her I couldn't! She wanted me to leave you to go and look for some random bloke with a child I don't even know! What was I supposed to say?" Sunil mopped more tears from his face. Ste pulled him into a much needed hug and they both remained silent for a moment. "She'll come back, don't worry. It'll be okay." Ste promised, kissing him on the forehead. "It's not that simple, though! She's really mad at me because she wanted me to choose her over you! Even if she does come back, what are we supposed to do or say? She's my best friend!" Sunil croaked, resting his face on Ste's chest. The warmth from Ste's bed-fresh body wrapped around him in the embrace brought him some comfort.

After standing outside the door for another hour, Cody jumped as she finally heard the door of _The Loft_ unlock. It opened and Trevor stepped out before locking it behind him. He hadn't even noticed the young woman standing right beside him and he began to walk off in the opposite direction. "Hey, wait!" Cody called after him, hurrying along in her large heels. He had his hands shoved in the pockets of his jacket and stopped to turn to see who was calling him. "What do you want?" he asked after she finally caught up with him. She was slightly out of breath for more than one reason and took a moment to regain her composure. "I just... I just wanted to say thanks for the drinks last night... They were, um... nice." she announced awkwardly. Trying to speak properly and admire him were two very difficult tasks to do together. He didn't know how to respond to her compliment as he remembered pouring her drinks the same way he poured it for everyone else. He simply nodded and turned to walk away again. She stopped him once more and tried to straighten up a little bit. "I'm new around here, my name's Cody." she smiled seductively, holding her hand out. He forced a smile and shook her hand. "I was wondering if you'd be interested in going for a drink sometime? You can tell me a little bit more about this place and yourself." she winked. He looked around to see if anyone was within hearing distance. "Sorry, but how old are you?" he asked in a derogatory manner. "Old enough." she grinned, stroking his arm. He appeared to be totally uncomfortable and took her hand off of his arm. "I'm taken, love. Sorry." he said before turning away one final time and walking off into the street. "Well, you still wanted to check how old I was before telling me you had a girlfriend!" she shouted after him. He stopped in his tracks but didn't look at her before beginning to stroll off around the corner.

"The reek of desperation from you." a voice from behind said. Cody spun around in fright only to realise it was just Rebel. "Going after him even though he's already got someone, are we?" she chuckled. "Oh, shut up, you! Besides, at least I was able to get up this morning. I wasn't wasted like you were last night." she retaliated. Rebel was also wearing a large jacket and had her hands shoved in its pockets. Cody wanted nothing more than to rip it off of her and wear it herself as her knees were now shaking from the cold. They walked past the college they would soon be attending and stopped to stand by the wall outside of its car park. "So, what do you think of the house?" Cody asked. "It's pretty shit. They're all a bunch of weirdos in that house, aren't they? Dennis is loopy as fuck, Blessing is just odd in general, Ste's not hiding the fact that he hates us and Sunil just has issues!" she chortled. "Issues? What kind of issues?" Cody questioned, not knowing what she was referring to. "He's got that eating disorder! The one where they make themselves get sick after meals!" she explained. Cody still seemed pretty confused as to how she had come to that conclusion. "Haven't you heard him in the bathroom? He throws up at least once a day and it's always within ten minutes of eating something!" Rebel outlined. "That doesn't mean he's got an eating disorder, Rebel! Maybe it's just the food! Let's face it, Ste's not the greatest chef in history!" Cody laughed, flicking her hair. "Nah, think about it. Why is he always hesitant about eating something in the first place? He avoids eating at all costs! He's never sick after his visits to the bathroom and he always seems to go to the bathroom only if Ste isn't around. That's a sign of shame." Rebel pointed out. Cody thought about it for a moment. "Hmm, I don't know. He seems too happy to having an eating disorder." she shrugged. They both began walking through the town and headed home as the sky became duller and darker.

"Don't mention any of that stuff about Sunil to Ste, though. That's not really any of our business, is it?" Cody ensured, opening and entering through the door of the house. "Don't mention what about Sunil?" Ste said from the living room. They both froze as if they had just woken up some sort of beast. Ste looked at them both, already figuring out that there was something serious they were hiding. "Oh, nothing..." Cody brushed off, taking off her jacket and trying to remain casual. Rebel copied and rushed into the kitchen. "No, tell me! What's going on with Sunil!" Ste demanded, following them. Rebel faded into the background and was rooting through the larder for cereal, leaving Cody to face her mistake of being too gobby as usual. "Um, we can't tell you. It's a surprise..." she lied unconvincingly. Rebel giggled audibly from the kitchen, causing Ste to worry and carry on questioning her. "It's nothing, honestly! If we tell you, Sunil will kill us!" she explained, trying to calm him down.

Sunil returned home later that evening from yet another show. He was visibly exhausted just as Ste was the night before after his day in work. Fortunately, Ste had a cup of green tea with honey waiting for him as he collapsed on the couch. "How was it?" Ste grinned as he sat next to him. "So good! I got really into it! It helped me take my mind off of things, you know? I'm just so tired!" he stretched, picking up his tea soon after and sipping at it. "Aw, I'm dead proud of you! Just chill out and I'll make you something to eat, all right?" Ste said as he got back up and jogged to the kitchen. "That's okay! I'm not that hungry." Sunil said almost robotically. Ste was expecting that response and his face became a lot sterner but he continued to pull things from the fridge and turned the oven on. "Seriously, I'm okay, I'm not hungry, I'm just going to go to bed!" Sunil repeated, following him into the kitchen. Ste completely ignored him and carried on chopping onions and pouring oil into a pot. "Ste! Stop! I'm not eating it!" Sunil shouted. "Why don't you let me cook for you any more?! If you don't like my cooking, just tell me!" Ste shouted twice as loud, throwing the knife down on the counter. For a brief moment, they both paused in case they had woken up Leah and Lucas but they then remembered that they were no longer there. "I _love _your cooking! I'm just not hungry! Don't make such a big deal out of it!" Sunil reassured him, grabbing his arms. Ste was infuriated and took a minute to calm down. "I want to see you eat something right here and right now. I know Cal said all of that rubbish to you and I know you want to lose weight for yourself but starving yourself is not the way to do it." Ste said a lot quieter. Sunil dropped his hands and took a deep breath. "Fine. I'll eat something but I just want some cereal, or something." he finally agreed, taking out a small bowl and a spoon. Ste turned to fetch the milk and placed it beside the bowl.

Sunil headed for the larder to pick out the one cereal he ate. He had strict rules that no one was allowed to eat his cereal (even though Rebel had helped herself to it many times) because he always bought it just for himself. He kept his eyes locked with Ste's as he opened up the top and began to pour it into the bowl. They both looked down as they heard an unusual thump of something heavy falling out of the box and into the bowl. A bag of a white powdery substance was perched on top of the cereal in the bowl. Again, their eyes met simultaneously. This time, however, Sunil's eyes had taken the angrier form and Ste's had become horrified and confused.


	24. Chapter 24 - Surprise!

It felt like an entire hour had passed before Ste had finally decided to say something. He looked up and met Sunil's infuriated eyes once more and began to shake his head desperately. "I swear on the kids' lives, I have no idea where that came from! I swear!" he stuttered, tears of panic appearing in his eyes. Sunil gently put the cereal box down and folded his arms, examining Ste's body language, hoping he would detect some honesty for once. "Look, you have to believe me! You do believe me, don't you?" He did not receive a reply, just a cold, hard stare from across the table. Ste's eyes and his thoughts were rushing frantically as he tried to think of something decent to say. He noticed the small, green sticky-note that was attached to the bag of cocaine and snatched it, holding it close to his eyes to read it for some proof that it wasn't his.

He read aloud, "You never get off of this path". He read it a few more times, trying to piece everything together. "I know who put this in there, I know who it was!" Ste growled, standing up and rushing around the kitchen. "Who was it then?" Sunil demanded, also standing up and picking up the bag. "I can't tell you. I won't let you near them, it's not safe." Ste breathed, stomping over to him and taking the cocaine from him and shoving it in his pocket. "Listen to me, you _have_ to believe this wasn't me. I swore on my children's lives. You have to believe me." He grabbed Sunil's shoulders and tried to find trust in his eyes but there was an uncomfortable silence before Sunil shrugged Ste's hands from his shoulders and turned away. "I-... I don't think I can do this, Ste... Not again." he whispered, shaking his head at the floor. "So, that's it then? We're back to square one? You don't trust me again, is that it?" Ste mocked, raising his voice in anger. "It's a little hard to trust you these days, Ste! I'm sick of all of these unwanted surprises with you! Can't you see how frustrating this is, having to challenge my own ability to trust someone I love day in and day out?" Sunil raised his voice now and was also beginning to mop up streams of tears from his face. He stormed out of the room and headed for the stairs. "I will sort this out! I know who did this, I promise!" Ste shouted after him. "Well, you won't tell me who it is! How am I supposed to know if that's just some shitty excuse for you to go and get rid of that bag because you know you've been caught? How am I supposed to know?" Ste retrieved the packet once again from his pocket and re-read the note, confirming it to himself. "This is exactly what he wants." Ste mumbled under his breath through gritted teeth. He threw a jacket on himself and marched out of the house. What he didn't know was that Sunil immediately followed after him.

A car pulled up in the village, stopping right outside _The Dog_. Dodger got out of the car with an unusual grin on his face. He quickly scurried to the boot of the car and heaved out an enormous, pink suitcase. Following him out of the car, was Maxine. She looked rather frightened and stared around at the familiar shops with a tinge of horror. "You're going to be fine, I promise." Dodger smiled, placing his hand on her upper arm for comfort. She forced a smile but did not feel even slightly at ease here. This is where she had been a victim of domestic abuse for months and where she had lost her son as a result of a house fire that had almost killed her too. A few people passing by waved at her to welcome her home. She wore her typically bright and colourful combination of a blazer jacket with a dress but it was not at all a reflection of how she felt inside.

Cody swung the door of the _The Loft_ open and strutted her way to the bar. It was completely empty except for Trevor's presence behind the bar. He was leaning over it, reading a newspaper and not paying attention to his first customer of the evening. "I'll have a gin and tonic, please." she grinned, taking a seat on the nearest stool to him. Without looking up from the newspaper, he picked up a glass beside him and reached just below the counter for her order, pouring it out and sliding it towards her. "Back here again, are we?" he muttered in a bland tone. "Well, I'm hardly going to go for a drink at _The Dog_, am I? There's not much to see there, is there?" she giggled, fixing her hair. "There's not exactly anything interesting going on here either." he replied, finally closing over the newspaper and chucking it to the side. "I don't know, I'm looking at something pretty interesting," she winked, "that scar on your face, how did you get that?" He looked mildly confused. "You don't want to know, trust me." he answered sternly. "Oh, come on, I can keep a secret. I think it looks dead sexy." she flirted, taking a sip from her drink. "You're one nosey little piece of work, aren't you?" Trevor said, squinting his eyes in suspicion. "I just want to get to know you a little more, that's all!" She bit her lip seductively and gently grabbed one of his hands. He looked down for a moment, not sure how to react. "I told you I have a girlfriend, didn't I?" he reminded her. He sounded like he was trying to throw her off but he had not moved his hand. "I chose not to hear that part, I was too busy staring at you, imagining you and me together." she responded. Trevor felt sweat breaking on his forehead and before he knew it, they where both leaning in to each other. Just before their lips met, however, the club's door was flung open and Ste was power-walking his way straight in Trevor's direction.

"You think you're funny, do ya? Putting this in the house?" he snarled, holding the bag in front of Trevor's face and dropping it on the counter. "I'm just going to go..." Cody said in the background, looking from the two men to the bag of cocaine. She quickly straightened her dress and scuttled from the club, shutting the door behind her. Sunil appeared at the bottom of the stairs. He had entered through the downstairs entrance and was listening silently, remaining out of sight. "What can I help you with, Steven, my friend. Would you like a drink?" Trevor grinned. "No, you're going to tell me how you got into the house and why you put this in there. Do you realise what you've done? You're a life-ruiner! Why do you do it, eh? Is it because your life is so messed up that you just have to drag everyone else down with you? I told you, I'm done with you and your dealings! I paid off my debt! You stay out of my life or I will turn you into the police! I mean it this time!" Ste shouted, pointing his finger straight in his face. Trevor seemed amused at this. "I'm guessing your little boyfriend wasn't too happy with it, no? Well, I'm sorry to say it but I didn't put that in your house, Ste. You're barking up the wrong tree." The upstairs door swung open again. This time, Cal entered the club, surprised to see Ste there. "Ah, Cal. I'm sure you've met my friend Ste before, yes?" Trevor smiled, offering his acquaintance a seat beside Ste. Cal winked at him mockingly and took a seat next to him. "What are you two playing at?" Ste asked, looking back and forth between them. "Cal here is my business partner. He's your replacement, really. A new and improved version. A Ste 2.0, if you will." Trevor and Cal both laughed, enjoying Ste's confusion. "So, if it wasn't you who put that in the house, it was you!" Ste said, now pointing his finger in Cal's face. His anger was met with a smug laugh from Cal. "It's a nice place you've got, really. What air freshener do you use, dust-scented? I wanted to bring a little gift for you and your boyfriend." he smirked. Ste reacted quickly, shoving Cal off of the stool. He crashed to the ground as Ste lunged forward to attack him. Trevor, however, grabbed Ste by the shoulders from over the bar. Sunil jogged up the steel steps to help him. "Stop!" he shouted, causing everyone to freeze in place. Ste shrugged Trevor off of him as Cal got to his feet, brushing himself off.

"What are you doing here?" Ste asked. He was completely ignored as Sunil charged forward. "It was you? Why would you do that?" Sunil demanded from his bandmate. "Because I was paid to do it! I do what I'm told to do and I get nice rewards for it." he grinned at Trevor. "Well, in that case, fuck you and fuck the band! I'm out. Does Meg know what you're doing here? I'm guessing not! I mean, who the fuck breaks into someone's house and plants drugs in a fucking cereal box for money? What is _wrong_ with you?" Sunil said with disgust. "In a cereal box? I didn't put it in a cereal box..." Cal replied, looking at Trevor again in puzzlement. Neither of them knew what to say, they all just looked at each other hoping someone would explain what was going on. "I threw the bag into the bathroom before I left... You came home with some kids and I panicked and just threw them into the bathroom and then I left through one of the bedroom windows." he told them. "You did it while my kids were in the house?! I'll kill you!" Ste screamed, pouncing forward once more before being held back by Sunil and Trevor. "Well, if you didn't put it in the cereal box, how did it end up in there?" Sunil asked, struggling to hold back his squirming boyfriend. He simply shrugged as Ste calmed himself down.

"So, what do you think?" Dodger said as he walked Maxine around his new flat. She could not find the words to say but she cringed at every similarity she noticed with how the flat used to look. The kitchen was the most obvious similarity as it had not changed one bit other than the colour of the tiles. The annoying bookshelf at the door that blocked the view into the flat was now gone and replaced with a much more open living area. Maxine still felt extremely trapped within the walls of her former home. All she could see was the old design; the same picture frames on the walls, the same carpet, the same furniture... She stood stiffly in place as her eyes reached where the boiler room used to be. Her shoulders tensed right up but Dodger was there with her, trying his best to relax her. "It's okay, you're safe here." he whispered, kissing her hair. Unsurprisingly, she felt no comfort and was completely put off by a candle sitting on a desk in the corner. It's flickering flame danced eerily, almost mocking her.

"So, you believe me now?" Ste said as he and Sunil returned home shortly afterwards. He threw the house keys on the kitchen counter and swiftly took his jacket off. "I think I knew deep down that you didn't bring it here... I mean, why would you put it in my cereal if you did?" Sunil thought aloud, picking up the cereal box from the table and returning it to the larder. Ste smiled sarcastically and headed for the living room, visibly annoyed that it had to go that far for him to be believed. "I'm really sorry, you know that, right?" Sunil started, leaning against the wall of the living room, watching him crash out on the couch and turning on the TV. "Mhm..." he mumbled, chewing one of the strings on his hoodie and crossing his arms. "Please don't be mad at me." Sunil begged. Without responding, Ste absently changed channels repeatedly, not really caring what was on. Realising he wasn't going to get anywhere for tonight, at least, Sunil slugged himself out of the room in shame and moped his way upstairs. He sat on the bed and opened his laptop. It was still on the tab he had been looking at earlier - Tumblr. He scrolled through a search he had made earlier for "thinspiration". The page was covered with pictures of extremely thin men and women, all posing professionally. Their bones protruded from their bodies, clearly as a result of starvation. Text and quotes were sprawled across some of these pictures, saying things such as;

_You're stomach isn't growling, it's applauding._

_If you eat today, YOU WILL GET FAT._

_Don't give into food._

_When you start to feel dizzy and weak, you're doing it right._

_Even when you reach your target weight, keep losing weight._


	25. Chapter 25 - Haunted

"You're fired, by the way." Trevor announced in his usual unforgiving manner. "Wait, what?! You're firing me? What for?" Cal argued, standing up from the stool he was perched on by the bar. "Yet again, you've messed up! You told me there would be no more mess ups. I can't have it, you have to go." Trevor reinforced sternly. "I did exactly what you asked me to do! I planted those drugs in the house and they found them!" It was pitifully obvious that Cal needed the extra money Trevor could offer him. He was not benefiting an awful lot from performing small gigs for a living either. "Yeah, they did find the drugs but somebody else found them first. Someone found them and moved them which means someone else knows about it. Until I find out who that is, I need you gone from here. I'm doing you a favour." Trevor explained, slowly making his way to the door and opening it to allow him to leave.

Cal stood up with a sudden look of confidence on his face and stalked his way over to the door and closed it shut again. "You're not firing me, Trev. Because if you do, I'll just have to turn you in to the police." he smirked, waiting to see Trevor's face collapse with panic. However, Trevor let out an enormous laugh that made Cal jump back a little. "Listen to me, kid. You won't say anything to the police and do you want to know why?" he growled, thrusting his eyes closer to Cal's nervous expression. "I know people who can kill you and make it look like a very, very unfortunate accident. I can have you wiped off of the face of this planet overnight. I can have you hunted, murdered and hidden where no one will ever find you. You're going to stay quiet, all right?" Trevor finished, watching his former employee crumbled into what looked like a scared and lost little boy. Cal shook his head obediently as the door was opened for him once more. "Oh, and by the way, don't call me Trev."

Staring down at his feet that morning, Sunil was once again, tremendously unimpressed and disappointed with what the bathroom scales were displaying. Having them in the bathroom in the first place was a bad idea as it became a temptation to check his weight whenever he used the toilet. On an average day, Sunil would stand on the scales up to five times a day. He knew what he was going to see each time but there was a small flicker of hope that eventually, he would see the little red pointer go down another bit. "I haven't eaten since yesterday morning..." he thought angrily to himself. Resting his hands on his stomach, he listened as the regular growls sounded, begging for nourishment. He closed his eyes and felt several warm tears leak out and fall down to his feet.

There were several sudden, loud knocks on the bathroom door that caused him to fall off of the scales but he maintained his balance (which was pretty difficult considering he was weak and dizzy most of the time). "Sunil, are you in there? Can you hurry up please, I have work in a bit!" Ste called in. "Sorry, yeah, I'm just finished now." he replied, quickly splashing water on his face and allowing himself to cool down. Unlocking the door, he tried to brush past Ste as quickly as possible, looking down and avoiding eye contact. Obviously, he hadn't given himself enough time to cool down because Ste instantly spotted his watery, red eyes. "Is everything okay?" he asked, grabbing his arm to stop him walking away. "What do you mean?" Sunil answered, slapping a confused face on himself. "You're crying. What's the matter?" Sunil's unsteady breath totally gave away the fact that he had been crying so there was no point in trying to hide it. "Oh, it's nothing. I was just upset. I thought you were going to be mad at me today and I just don't think I can handle it right now with Danni gone..." This was partially true. It wasn't exactly the reason why he was crying but it was also something weighing heavily on his mind that fit as an excuse perfectly. "Why would I be mad at you?" Ste questioned, still struggling to get Sunil to look into his eyes. "Well, yesterday and all that... I thought we were, you know, not talking again. I'm sorry, I was just being silly and upset, it's nothing!" he repeated, wiping his face again. "Listen to me you big idiot," Ste said softly, grabbing Sunil's arms again, "I'm over it! I get why you have trust issues with me. I messed up before! I easily could have brought that cocaine into the house but I didn't because I love you and you have made me a better man. Of course we're going to get mad at each other for all sorts of rubbish but isn't that how relationships work? I'm not mad at you for yesterday." he grinned.

"Wait, you're not mad at me for yesterday? What are you mad at me for, then?" Sunil asked. "I'm mad at you because you didn't bring me breakfast in bed!"

Maxine was awake before Dodger the next morning in their flat. She sat up in bed and stared into space, too afraid to go out into the kitchen alone. She contemplated waking Dodger up, planning a way to accidentally make a loud noise so that she wouldn't feel so alone and trapped but she left him to stay asleep beside her. "You're being ridiculous." she whispered under her breath. Placing both feet on the floor after a moment, she stood up and carefully made her way to the door as if she was in a tense horror movie scene. Reaching out for the doorknob, she began to open the door but hesitated and eventually decided to stay put. "Is everything all right?" Dodger asked from the bed. He rubbed his eyes and yawned deeply before turning to face her. "Yes, everything's fine. I was just... going to make some tea. Do you want some?" she mumbled. "I'll have a coffee if you're making one, love." he said with a husky, morning voice, stretching his arms and turning back into the pillow and falling asleep again. Maxine crept out of the room slowly, looking around the corner and taking a deep breath. She walked through the tiny hallway and made it to the open kitchen. She froze in utter shock as she felt someone standing behind her.

Spinning around in terror, she found that there was no one there. All she could see was the bedroom door still open. Remembering to breath again, she made her way into the kitchen and turned the kettle on. The sound of it boiling masked the paralysing silence. The kettle clicked and she began to pour out her tea. Again, she felt a presence in the room. She looked up and dropped the kettle in fright as she saw a tall, dark figure standing across the room from her. She shook her hand wildly in pain as she had spilled boiling water on her hands. What she thought she had seen was now gone but the stinging pain was still there so she ran her hands under the cold water. The sound of the kettle falling had woken Dodger up again who came rushing out from the bedroom. "What's wrong?" he asked, hurrying over to her and noticing what she had done soon after. "Oh, Max... That's a bad burn!" he gasped, examining the bright red patches all over her hands. She winced in pain as the water both soothed and irritated the burn. She also couldn't help but think of the cruel irony of burning herself where she had almost perished in flames. The image of the candle from the night before flashed through her mind again, reminding her of the worst period of time in her life.

"A few more months and I'll finally have this child out of me!" Grace groaned, taking a seat on a bar stool and massaging her growing bump. "You shouldn't be working, you know. You're always tired and complaining." Trevor laughed, pouring her a glass of orange juice. "You could have put that nicely and said I'm just a very hard and very determined worker." she grinned, now rubbing her lower back. "You should stop wearing heels all of the time too, that's only going to make you more uncomfortable. You should be going out and buying more comfortable clothes, not trying to run a nightclub." The sound of footsteps tapped up the steel steps and Cody emerged. "Good afternoon!" she winked. "Why don't you go home and put your feet up for the evening, I can take care of this place tonight." Trevor nudged Grace, who was eyeing the young woman who had just arrived up and down. Without another word, Grace stood up and strutted out of the club, arms holding her bump and not taking her eyes off of Cody.

"Eyes of steel, that woman!" Cody giggled, placing her handbag down and taking Grace's seat. "Gin and tonic?" Trevor asked, walking back behind the bar and grabbing a glass. "Please. I forgot you can't drink alcohol when you're pregnant. That's rough." she said, flinging her hair over her shoulders. "You also can't drink alcohol if you're underage." Trevor said, lifting a box of more drinks onto the bar and unloading the bottles. Cody didn't reply but continued to sip at her drink. "So, have you thought about the last time we saw each other?" she piped up after a moment of silence. "What do you mean?" he asked, stacking the bottles in their respective places. "Oh, don't you remember? I do. It was very... intimate." she whispered, leaning forward, getting closer to his face. He paused and stared at her for a moment, trying to work out why she was doing this. "Nothing happened, I don't know what you're talking about." he shrugged off. Cody flung her hair back once again. "Let me remind you." She leaned in and pressed her lips against his, fighting into his solid expression. He was obviously trying to resist kissing her back but it took very little persuasion before he grabbed the sides of her face and was kissing back just as hard.


	26. Chapter 26 - Seeing

As more time and missed calls passed, Sunil grew more and more concerned for Danni, Sienna and Nico's safety. They could be anywhere and it wasn't even likely that Sienna had found them. Guilt ate away at Sunil's thoughts as the days dragged. Perhaps he should have gone with her and kept her safe. He could have explained everything to Ste and promised that he'd be back soon. Did it make him a terrible friend? Either way, not knowing whether Danni was safe or not absolutely tore his insides apart and that was enough proof for himself to know he was at least a caring friend. Ste continued to notice worrying signs with Sunil. Loud, drawn-out growls from his stomach broke every silence between them. It was Ste's idea to sit and watch a movie together to take his mind of Danni but the grumbles only attracted unwanted attention. It was becoming more unavoidable that Ste knew something was definitely wrong.

On a short trip to the shops the following morning, Rebel was grabbed from behind without warning. She quickly realised it was Cody and she threw her gripping hands off of her arms, asking what her problem was. "You'll never guess what!" Cody whispered loudly, her eyes burning with excitement. Before even letting Rebel respond, she answered a question she wasn't asked. "I kissed Trevor yesterday! Like, proper kissed him!" she grinned gleefully. "Why are you telling me this? I don't care what you do in your free time, even if you go around kissing a pregnant woman's man." she replied with a tinge of sarcasm. Cody was hoping for a little more enthusiasm from her friend and made an ugly face at her. "I don't care what you think! So what if he's a few years older than me?" Cody flicked her hair freely, the smell of shampoo catching the breeze. "More like twenty years older..." Rebel sniggered, beginning to walk away. "What do you even see in him? I don't get the sudden obsession." Cody looked slightly offended and trotted after her. "Firstly, he's gorgeous. Secondly, a man like that can pay for the rest of my education. He's a successful businessman, I won't even need to get a job!" she beamed. Rolling her eyes, Rebel carried on bustling away. "Well, if you're in it for the money, you belong together. Just don't be surprised if you find yourself in the middle of a lot of drama!"

"Babe, can you make me some more toast?" Grace moaned from the other couch. Trevor was standing in the kitchen, finishing housework Grace had left due to her low fatigue. "More toast? This is your fourth plate! Are you sure you're not having quadruplets or something?" he laughed, dropping some more bread into the toaster. "You never know! Four kids at once, how would we manage that? Can you put marmalade on my toast this time? I'm suddenly craving orange." she babbled, rubbing her hands over her bump. Moments later, Trevor carried her plate to her and took a seat beside her. "I have something really important to tell you, actually." he announced in a troubling serious tone just as Grace was about to take a bite of toast. She put the plate down, anticipating some pretty shocking news judging by Trevor's face. "I want you to understand something before I tell you this..." he started, looking directly in her eyes. "You haven't killed someone again, have you?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "No, no. This is potentially worse, depending on how you look at it." He tried to make that sound funny and followed it up with a laugh but Grace folded her arms and took a deep breath. "You know that girl that visited the club yesterday, the young one?" Grace chose not to respond but allowed him to continue. "Well, after you left, she... uh..." he mumbled. It seemed like he suddenly regretted bringing it up but he shook his head and continued. "She... she kissed me." he blurted out, sighing in relief once he finished. For a moment, Trevor thought that Grace had somehow magically become a statue at some point in the conversation because she still hadn't moved or blinked. He waited for any sort of response and finally got one. "What do you mean _she_ kissed _you_?" she said plainly. "Exactly that! She's been flirting with me ever since I met her and she decided to kiss me." Grace cleared her throat and readjusted her seating position. "So, I'm guessing you've banned her from the club then? You're going to stay away from her, yes?"

Trevor made an awkward face, signalling this was the part that Grace was going to struggle with. "Well, now that I know she really likes me, I thought we could use this to our advantage." Trevor continued, watching Grace's face turn from suspicious to downright confused. "Let me explain, we still have a lot of money owed to certain people and a lot of stock to sell so I figured I could charm her into doing some dirty deeds for us, you know? Make her work for me and I just have to pretend to flirt back with her." He lowered his head as if he was about to be slapped as Grace stood up quickly. When he felt no blows to the head, he looked up to find Grace looking shockingly impressed and intrigued. "That's not a bad idea... Now that we're starting our family, we can't afford to be putting ourselves in danger any more. That little rat Ste clearly won't be doing anything for us and that Cal bloke is useless..." she thought out loud. Trevor now stood up also, unable to believe what he was hearing. "Grace, I just want you to understand that this is all just for getting the jobs done. I'm not actually interested in her, you know that, don't you?" he asked her. She turned around slowly with a malicious smile on her face. "Oh, I know you're not serious with her. I'm just glad you weren't asking me to have a threesome with her. Realistically, no woman would ever let their man do this but I'm not every other woman. I'm a business woman and a very good business woman. We need these debts paid off and we need those drugs sold on. One thing my father always taught me was to do what you needed to do to keep yourself safe under any means necessary. He obviously took his own advice even when it came to keeping me safe but oh well, I'm still alive." she smirked. Trevor put his hands on the bump containing his child an kissed Grace lovingly. "You're amazing."

Maxine was still receiving several gasps of surprise from people whenever she showed her face in the village. Everyone was so happy to see her and kindly welcomed her back. After picking up some groceries, she made her way back to the flat. Before opening the building's main door, she took one more glance around the village, taking in what she missed most about it. Everything looked exactly the same but she felt so different about it.

Without warning, she spotted something that made her freeze in terror, a cold shiver ran up her spine. Further down the street, plain as could be, she saw Patrick standing there. She couldn't move and had lost the ability to breathe again. His vile smirk and piercing eyes made her stomach turn. Shortly after, he vanished into thin air as someone walked past the spot he was standing in as if he wasn't even there. She looked around to see if anyone else had seen him but everyone was just going about their business as usual. A woman who also lived in the building appeared and obviously wanted to get inside so Maxine forced herself to pick up her bags and unlock the door to let them both in. "Thank you!" the woman said, walking inside with her. "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." Maxine shook her head rigidly and began to walk up the stairs, relieved someone was with her so she wouldn't have to be on her own. After a meaningless chat about the weather, they quickly said goodbye as Maxine let herself into the flat. Dodger was finishing some last repairs and smiled as she shut the door behind her. "Did you get some eggs, I'm in the mood for an omelette!" he said, packing away some tools. "Dodger! I think I'm going crazy." she stated bluntly, dropping the grocery bags on the kitchen counter and holding her head in place. "What are you on about?" he chuckled, peeking into the bags to see what else she had bought. "You won't believe me if I tell you, nevermind." she muttered, brushing past him and stumbling to the bedroom. "Wait, tell me what's the matter!" He followed after her into the bedroom. She absent-mindedly folded some clothes that were laying about and looked around anxiously. "I'm actually going crazy." she repeated under her breath. Dodger grabbed her arms to stop her from fidgeting. "What's wrong?" he asked again, staring deep into her eyes. "I think I saw... I'm sure I saw... no, it couldn't have been..." she gasped, looking all around the room as if she needed to find a way out. "Max! What the hell is wrong? What did you see?" he shouted, shaking her slightly. She froze in place and looked as if she was re-watching the memory in her head. "I saw Patrick... just now... in the village!" she said slowly and quietly, looking at him and expecting him to not understand which he didn't. "I saw him standing at the end of the street and he was... he was watching me! No one else could see him but he was there! I saw him!" Dodger looked rightfully concerned and loosened his grip a little bit. "You saw Patrick? Babe, that scumbag is dead. He burned to death. You know that. You're just imagining things." he said calmly. "I know he's dead and I know I'm imagining it! That's the problem! I'm going insane, amn't I?! I think I saw him in here yesterday too! I felt something standing over my shoulder the way he used to yesterday morning and then I saw him when I was making you coffee! That's why I dropped the kettle and burned myself!" Maxine said in a panicked tone. She was struggling to breathe again.

"Don't worry! It's just because you have a lot of bad memories here! It will all go away eventually, I promise. You just need to focus on other things and push it out otherwise it will get worse. I'm here to protect you and to help you. I'll keep you safe, I promise!" Dodger explained, kissing her lightly on the forehead and bringing her into his chest to calm her down.

_Why have dinner when you could be thinner?_

Sunil's eyes browsed through more disgusting messages that he continued to use to keep himself motivated to not eat. Every image of someone with hardly any meat on their bones burned into his mind, reminding him that he could be that some day. He did eat and only ate something when people were watching so he could keep the suspicious eyes off of him. However, he nearly always went straight to the bathroom whenever it was a good time to empty his stomach again. It was still extremely difficult to mask the sounds but he managed. Forcing himself to vomit also caused his face to turn a deep, red colour and it made his eye water intensely from gagging and there was only so many times he could use crying over Danni as an excuse. Danni was the one who got him out of his first battle with eating disorders and now she wasn't here to help him this time. Opening the bathroom door after another visit gave Sunil quite a fright as Ste was once again standing just outside. "We seriously need to move out, I'm sick of all of us having to use one bathroom." he ranted. "You're crying again. Right, I want you to tell me right now what you're doing in the bathroom every time you go in there." Ste demanded. "What are you talking about?" Sunil muttered blankly. "You must think I was born yesterday. There is something wrong and I want you to tell me right now what's going on. I'm not stupid! You're not eating, you spend all day in the bathroom and you're all weird with me recently. I want to know what's going on." Ste demanded again, trying to keep his voice down. "I am eating! You saw me eating like, an hour ago!" said Sunil, wiping more tears from his cheeks. Ste suddenly grabbed his hand and dragged him into their bedroom and shut the door behind them. "Every time you finish eating, you go straight to the bathroom. You turn the shower and the tap on together as if you're trying to cover something up and then you come out looking like you've just coughed up a basketball. You've lost a ridiculous amount of weight, I can see some of your bones that I could never see before. I want you to tell me right now, are you purging?" Ste maintained a lowered tone but had a frighteningly serious expression on his face that made it hard for Sunil to conceal the truth.

A long moment had passed before anything was said. Sunil searched deep in Ste's eyes for something but he wasn't sure what. He wanted to scream that he needed help but something was stopping him from doing so, fear and shame, perhaps. "I'm not purging, no." Sunil said finally, something about Ste's face knew he was lying. "Well, then what because I can't think of anything else that can explain everything?" Ste replied, his stare getting more fixed and harder to avoid. "I..." Sunil paused to think about what was the right thing to do. He could make a u-turn and tell the truth right now but hiding the shame was so important to him. Telling Ste the truth didn't feel like the right thing to do because Sunil genuinely didn't think he would be able to help him. He was in this battle alone and it had to stay that way. "I'm just really homesick." Sunil explained shortly. He felt a slight release of pressure in his chest because that sounded like a perfectly plausible explanation to him when he said it to himself again in his head. Ste's face and shoulders also seemed to relax after taking a deep breath. "You're homesick?" he repeated with pity. "I'm just missing my mom a lot, that's all. I haven't been back home in a while and I feel like I've grown really distant from her and it was making me really upset. And, with Danni gone, I feel like I've lost everything from home. It just feels like four walls are closing in on me or something, like I can't help it." Sunil told him confidently. Ste looked like he bought the lie. He placed his hands on his shoulders and then pulled him into an embrace, squeezing him extra tight. "You can go home for a while if you need to, you know that, don't you?" Ste said softly in his ear. "Or, you could even ask your mum to come here and stay with us for a while! I suppose it's about time I met your family." he laughed. "I don't think I can go back... It's been so long. I feel like I don't even really know my own mother any more... She just kind of exists as a memory to me now... I just remember her from when I was in school. I think I just want it to be like that again and that's why I was upset. I've just lost my appetite because food isn't a priority to me right now. I just want Danni to come back." Sunil sighed, starting to cry suddenly. Ste squeezed harder and kissed his neck, knowing this was a problem he couldn't really fix.


	27. Chapter 27 - Your Favourite

An unexpected summer-worthy morning of heat surprised the village the following day. Faces of regret and misery were seen everywhere as people had dressed for a typically cool autumn's day but were trapped in their own clothing as the sun cooked them slowly. Today also saw the students heading back to school and college. Some of the students were visibly thrilled to be heading back to see their friends and to have something to do every day but the majority looked deeply burdened.

On her way to her first day of college, Cody stopped by at _The Loft_ for some motivation from her new obsession. She found Trevor carrying boxes of more booze behind the bar to refill the shelves to recover from the busy weekend that had just passed. The sound of her high heels alerted him to her presence long before she was in sight but he pretended to be surprised to see her nonetheless. "Well, look who it is." he smirked, watching as her face lit up. "Grace isn't here, is she?" Cody asked, scanning the area briefly. "Of course not! You won't be seeing her in here that often for a while, she spends most of her time on the couch these days. I'm all yours." he replied convincingly. Without another word, Cody grabbed his waist and shoved her lips to his lips, feeling no guilt whatsoever.

They both heard a noise from the stairs a moment later. Spinning around, they saw that Rebel had let herself in. "Ah, I knew I'd find you in here." she said distastefully, looking back and forth between her friend and Trevor. "What are you doing here?" Cody grunted, reaching for her bag. "We're going to be late, if you haven't noticed! I went to the college and you weren't there so I knew you'd be here smooching with your new fella. I think you're disgusting, by the way." she directed at Trevor, who looked slightly offended. "You're going to be a dad and this is what you like to get up to? C'mon Cody, let's make a move." she finished. "Wow, since when were _you_ the responsible one?" muttered Cody, winking back at Trevor as she left the club. He smiled back, pleased with how his plans were going to unfold.

That afternoon, Maxine chopped several carrots with unbreakable concentration in an attempt to block out any thought of recent events from distracting her. The repetitive sound of the blade smacking against the wooden chopping board became rhythmic and oddly soothing. Her intense focus was broken, however, as the flat door swung open and crashed into the wall. She jumped in fright, almost slicing her finger off. Stunned from fear, she grabbed her pounding heart to stop it from bursting through her chest but was even more terrified that there was no one at the door. It appeared to have swung open completely by itself. Maxine almost tripped in her extra-high heels as she rushed around for her phone to ring Dodger but not a second later, he appeared at the door, carrying a very large box through the door frame. She breathed out in relief as he struggled his way to an open space in the corner of the flat to drop the box down. "Dodger! Thank God, I thought the door had opened itself." she exhaled, smiling at the sight of him. "What? Don't be silly, I just needed two hands to carry this in! Made it the whole way up the stairs and all!" he grinned with pride for himself. "What is it?" Maxine asked, tilting her head to try and read the print on the large box. "A brand new 3D smart-TV! Just bought it in town! I reckon we deserve the best in our brand new home!" he beamed, straightening his back in slight discomfort. Maxine didn't fully understand what a smart-TV was exactly but didn't bother asking, she just rushed to shut the door and carried on chopping more vegetables. "I'm making shepherd's pie for dinner, one of your favourites."

"I'm making your favourite tonight, homemade pizza!" Ste announced, rolling out dough in the kitchen. "It's your day off and you still just want to cook!" Sunil laughed as he appeared on the stairs. "I was actually thinking this morning, why don't you try ringing Danni's family and ask if they've heard anything from her? She might even be staying with them for all we know." Ste suggested. "Oh, trust me, I've already tried that. Her mother wasn't very happy with me because I don't know where she is. The last thing that woman needs is to worry and now she's stressed too... I shouldn't of said anything to her." he groaned, flicking the kettle on and staring at it as it started to heat up. "This isn't your fault, you know that, don't you? It was her crazy idea to go off searching for some random bloke with Nico. I don't blame you for not going with her, it's a ridiculous idea! Now Sienna is gone too, that's only going to cause more trouble. You need to stop worrying so much, this isn't your problem." Ste said, washing the sticky bits of dough off of his hands so he could hold Sunil's arms for comfort. "But she's like my sister, Ste! It would be completely unnatural for me to not worry about her! I can't help it!" he responded defensively, burying his face into Ste's shoulder. "She'll come back and she'll be absolutely fine and you can both sort everything out then, I promise!" Ste tried to sound soothing and assuring but Sunil was soaking his shirt with tears of shame and worry. Steam erupted from the kettle and it clicked as the water boiled but Sunil stayed in place, preferring Ste's embrace to lemon flavoured green tea.

Opening her eyes slowly, Danni had forgotten what it was like to wake up in a bed with sunlight welcoming her to a new day. Instead, she was sleeping on an uncomfortable, solid base with her hands and legs tied together. Next to her, was Nico who was in the exact same predicament. Danni had been trapped in a small space before but that boiler room was a luxury compared to where she was now. Unable to even turn their bodies or stretch their aching arms and legs, both girls were trapped in the boot of a car. The shoulder and arm they were lying on had become totally numb. The last thing they remembered was arranging to meet the potential father to Nico before being ambushed from behind and clubbed over the head. Danni remembered hearing Nico screaming and seeing a field or a wide-open space of some sort but her vision was blurry and scattered. They were both handled and dumped into the boot by someone but neither had seen who it was. The stranger did not speak and kept himself out of view at all times. Even though it had only been one night, they had not been visited or checked on at all and both Danni and Nico were desperate for food or water.

Another movie night with the homemade pizza was in store for Ste and Sunil. Ste had spent all day in the kitchen whilst Sunil was out searching for a job after confirming he was finished with _The Nets_. The day and all of the heat included had drained their energy and they just wanted to move as little as possible for the remainder of the evening. Curled up on the couch together, they picked at the pizza but were both seemingly not as hungry as they thought they were earlier. This was obviously a perfect excuse for Sunil; he had no need to make any trips to the bathroom today as they had barely touched the pizza. It was almost like a "day off" for him too. Instead, Blessing and Dennis had arrived home and finished it off for them. They quickly complimented Ste on his efforts before leaving them in peace. The TV murmured in the background and was almost like a lullaby as they both slowly drifted off to sleep unexpectedly. A sudden, cruel ringtone from Ste's vibrating pocket woke them up minutes later, however. Swearing under his breath, Ste rubbed his eyes and stood up to reach for his phone in his pocket. It was an unknown number.

Still drowsy and struggling to stay awake, Sunil heard only snippets of the conversation. Ste's voice raised in excitement and disbelief at one point, as if he had been told he had just won the lottery. Eventually, Sunil sat up and turned around to watch him wrap up the mysterious phone conversation in the kitchen. He came down off of his momentary high once the phone hung up and he suddenly seemed a little unsure about how he was feeling. He stumbled back to the couch and stared at his mobile for a minute before Sunil asked what was up.

"That was the Greater Manchester Police..." Ste started, his face still indefinable. A surge of more worry rushed through Sunil. What could have been going on? Was Ste in trouble? Was he up to something behind his back again? Why was Ste excited about the phone call?

"They've just told me that Brendan is being moved to a different prison, closer to here. He wants me to sign up to his visitations list... He wants to see me!" said Ste with a surprised expression that matched Sunil's. His breathing had stopped and he looked like he was about to burst into tears for a moment. "Well, that's good, isn't it?" asked Sunil after a moment. It appeared that Ste was looking around the room. He stood up and paced back and forth with his hands resting on his head. "Yeah, I guess it is... I'm just... so confused! We agreed we wouldn't see each other while he was in prison! He wanted me to move on and live my life... Why does he want to see me now? Something must be wrong!" he blabbered, sitting back down again to centre his thoughts. For some strange reason, it felt like everything had just been intruded on by Brendan even though he wasn't physically there. Why did Sunil suddenly feel threatened? It only occurred to him then how important Brendan must have been to Ste, considering how wrapped up he had become in the space of a few minutes. He knew that they had a very complicated but passionate relationship but that was then.

"What should I do?" Ste asked with a tone of panic as he fumbled with his phone. One thing he loved about Sunil was his ability to give decent advice when he needed it the most but he had nothing to offer this time.

"Well, it's your choice. What do you want to do?" It wasn't even slightly well concealed that Sunil wished this had not happened at all. It had caught them both off-guard and it truly felt quite awkward and surreal. "You don't want me to see him, do you?" Ste knew but he wanted Sunil to say it. "Not particularly, no. I'm sorry but I honestly think it's a terrible idea." he said with a lot more honesty than he intended. "You don't understand what it has been like for me knowing that Brendan was the one person I have ever truly loved and I wasn't able to see him!" Ste said a little aggressively. "He's in jail for a reason! He's a criminal and he left you behind! That doesn't sound like he loved you very much at all!" Sunil replied bitterly. They both stood up rapidly and Ste glared at Sunil with utter disgust.

"You don't know anything about me and Brendan." Ste growled before stomping upstairs and slamming the bedroom door behind him. The sound of Dennis shouting at them to keep it down rang through the house. Other than that and the buzz of the TV in the corner, there was total silence.


	28. Notice For All Readers

This is just a short notice to all of my wonderful readers that "Hollyoaks: Secrets & Lies" will be ENDING with CHAPTER 30.

Don't panic, though! As one series ends, another begins! I would like to announce that I am beginning a new series called "Hollyoaks: Love & Hate" the week after "Secrets & Lies" finishes! All you need to know is that this new series will just be a new theme with some different characters (meaning that I will be leaving some characters out and bringing some other characters from the village in).

Not all of the current storylines will reach their end just yet so stay tuned for "Love & Hate" to see if Sienna will find Danni and Nico, if Cody realises what Trevor is up to, if Sunil can beat his eating disorder, if his relationship with Ste can last, if Maxine and Dodger can truly be happy in Hollyoaks and what will happen now that BRENDAN BRADY has asked Ste to come and visit him in prison!

I am working so hard on developing these storylines to create genuinely good content for you and I appreciate all of the support you give me just by reading and reviewing these chapters. I read all of your messages and I love you! There is so much more to come and a lot of shocking twists and turns so please stay on board!

Sunil xoxo


	29. Chapter 29 - Taken

A heart-jolting gasp rang through the flat as Maxine sat up in bed, waking up from another troubling nightmare. Trying to regain a steady breath, she felt the patches of sweat on her clothing and the bed-sheets under her. Some sort of miracle must have taken place as Dodger had not woken up; he had simply let out a much louder snore before quietening down again. Fresh images of Maxine's nightmare flashed through her mind. She had seen herself lying in bed next to Dodger but she was unable to move a muscle. Her body felt tightly constricted and in agony whenever she attempted to move. The room was dark but nothing could have been darker than the shadowy figure at the end of the bed, stalking her as she struggled helplessly. She could hear herself panicking in her mind but she couldn't verbalise anything. The tall figure did not move, it just stared. In the torturous silence, Maxine suddenly felt the bed heat up underneath her, as if it were an oven. Eventually, it was painfully hot, hot enough to cause blisters. She could then feel her skin melt and sizzle into the bed. The crushing scent of smoke and her shrills of pain filled the room but no one responded. Flames surrounded her. She was no longer in her bedroom, she was in hell. The sound of Patrick's evil laughter seemed to be directly in her ear. It was so realistic that she could almost feel his breath.

Nico's inability to lie still woke Danni up that morning. It took them both a second to realise that they were still trapped in the boot of an unknown person's car. Guilt was the only thing on Danni's mind as what she said wouldn't happen happened. She had been told several times that her plan to track down Nico's real father was insane and dangerous and now she and her niece were being held hostage and neither of them knew what was going to happen to them as a result.

"I need to use the toilet so badly and I'm so thirsty!" Nico whined. She had repeatedly reminded Danni of this every hour or so, making everything worse. "I am too but you need to stop talking about it! You'll only feel worse! Start thinking of a way to get out of here first and worry about that later!" Danni snapped. Nico sighed heavily and sobbed innocently a moment later, clearly terrified for her life. More guilt piled on Danni now as she felt responsible for triggering this outbreak of panic and sadness. "It's going to be okay, Nico. We're going to be okay. I promise. You have to trust me!" Having their backs to each other made it hard for Danni to deliver sincerity but they had to cope to survive. Surely, they wouldn't just be left to die in this car; the evidence of that murder would be far too hard to hide in a police investigation. There was plenty of DNA samples in the car and they were both obviously put in this position by someone else and their DNA was still on them. Someone had to be coming to use them for something. They just had to be ready and able to fight off whoever their kidnapper was.

After completing her second day at her new college, Cody strutted out of the building, adjusting her hair in the wind. Rebel chased after her, catching her up at the car park. "Where are you off to, then?" Rebel asked, hanging her bag over her shoulder. "Where d'ya think? I need some cheering up after that depressing bunch of crap." she smirked, looking directly towards _The Loft_. Rolling her eyes, Rebel stood in front of Cody and stopped her from passing. "I'm no angel, you know that, but you're getting involved with someone you really shouldn't be getting involved with. I like pulling pranks and doing what I want but Trevor deals drugs! On top of that, if Grace catches you and him together, she will literally kill you in the most painful way she can think of. You know what she's capable of. You have to walk away from this. What about college and getting a job?" said Rebel, staring at her friend's uninterested expression. "Think what you want of me, I know what I'm doing. I don't need a job or college! I'm dropping out. I have everything I need with Trevor, money and danger." Cody teased, pushing past Rebel and heading out of the car park again. "You can't actually be serious?" laughed Rebel, receiving no reply. She watched as Cody disappeared around the corner, the clicking of her heels fading into nothing.

"I'm just heading out to get some stuff for dinner, do you need anything?" Maxine called out from the front door. "No thanks, babe!" Dodger replied from the bedroom. Placing her pink-leather handbag on her forearm, Maxine closed the door behind her and struggled down the stairs, as usual, in her enormous heels. "The things I sacrifice to look this good." she mouthed to herself under her breath. Safely making it to the bottom of the building's stairs, she trotted out to the street. No one was about, which was odd for this time of the day. Nonetheless, the shop was only a few feet away from the building. However, without warning, Maxine felt a hand clamp over her mouth and an arm hook her around the waist. She kicked and screamed as she was swiftly dragged down the nearby alley. As she attempted to worm her way out of the hold, she lost her balance several times and also lost one of her shoes. Waving her arms around to try and scratch whoever was attacking her, she was taken to the car park behind the building and thrown into one of the cars. Again, no one was around but she screamed once the hand was taken away from her mouth. She was slapped unexpectedly in the face, causing her head to turn away. When she looked back, she saw her attacker.

It felt like her blood had turned to ice and her lungs had been frozen as she could no longer breath. It couldn't be. How was this even possible? It was Patrick. He slammed the car door and peered in through the glass like she was a fish in a fish bowl. "Patrick... No..." she breathed fearfully. Surely, she was imagining things. She had to be! The horror of her past must have manifested itself in this attacker's form. Patrick's eyes were as menacing as they had been before he had died. His evil smirk and accompanying chuckle sent shivers throughout Maxine's paralysed body. The right-hand half of his face was visibly scarred from burns he had suffered from the night of the fire. His right eye drooped slightly as if the skin under the eye had melted. It looked like something from a horror movie, a nightmare. Had Maxine dozed off at some point at home? She begged that she would wake up any second and realise it was just another bad dream. Patrick climbed into the front seat of the car and started it up, sighing in what sounded like relief and turned to her.

"Hello, Maxine. I've missed you."

She whimpered as her vision went blurry from tears. She desperately tried to open the car door but it had been locked. After banging on the window and screaming for help, she heard something rather strange; a thudding of some sort. She stopped and listened carefully. It wasn't just thumping, she could hear voices too. Had she gone completely insane? It sounded as if the voices were coming from behind her seat. They were calling for help. Someone was trapped in the boot of the car. "Who's in there?!" Maxine asked, horrified at the entire ordeal. "You'll see. Sit back and relax. We're going for a drive." he said softly, reaching back and touching her hair. She slapped his hand away and immediately regretted it once she saw the rage instantly ignite on Patrick's face. He got out of the car and walked to the boot. Maxine heard the voices a lot clearer now and they were unfortunately, very familiar. "Danni! Nico!" she screamed in terror. Their voices became muffled once more as the boot was slammed shut. Patrick re-emerged with something in his hand. Opening the back door, he violently wrestled Maxine on the back seat, cuffing her hands and legs together and putting her seatbelt on. Hopping back into the driver's seat, he started the car up and began to drive.

"Where are you taking us?! What are you doing?!" screamed Maxine. "I can't tell you that just yet, my love. All of your questions will be answered soon." He sounded so composed and romantic, his image was still utterly surreal. "I'm sure you're wondering how I'm even alive and healthy. You see, after my beloved family left me to burn in that flat, I'm sure you heard no remains were found, correct? Well, that's because I had a very lucky escape, indeed. Once you and everyone else had escaped, I had to find my own way out of the flames. I freed myself from that bookshelf Sienna cruelly dumped on me and I crawled my way to the door. You were all rushed to the hospital and I was left in the smoke and ashes of my home! I broke some of my ribs from the weight of the bookshelf and I obviously suffered some severe burns to my face and other parts of my body but I am alive and well. I'm healthy and healed and now I'm going to get my revenge on the three of you."

All three girls continued to scream even though they knew it would do nothing. The drive Patrick had taken them on was not long. Within three minutes or so, the car slowed down and came to a stop. They were at the nearby lake. As the sky had become black and starry, the lake also glistened under the moonlight. They had parked very close to the edge of the water, causing more panic to build in Maxine's chest. The poor girls in the back were yet to see what her evil ex-husband had in store for them.

Once again, Ste and Sunil had nothing to say to each other after the evening before. They glared at one another from a distance as Ste sealed up a letter he was sending to Brendan's new prison to state that he wanted to be added to his visitation list. Ste walked confidently out of the kitchen and made one spiteful look at Sunil before slamming the front door behind him.

"Is everything all right between you two?"

Sunil jumped in fright, not realising Dennis was behind him on the stairs. "No, nothing is all right right now. Absolutely nothing!" Sunil muttered, taking a seat in the living room and burying his face in his hands. "What's after happening this time?" Dennis asked, following him to the couch and sitting down beside him. "I'm not even sure this time... Brendan is being moved to a nearer prison and he wants Ste to start visiting him! He asked me what he should do and I just said it was a bad idea and he got really mad! He's gone to send off his letter so he can visit. I don't know what to do!" There was a small pause as Dennis tried to think of something to say to that. Brendan's presence in the relationship was a shock and a very difficult dynamic to deal with. Anyone who knew Ste knew he and Brendan were essentially soulmates at one time and clearly, they had never stopped thinking of each other. "I don't think there's anything you can do, mate. You can't stop him from seeing Brendan and we both know he will go and see him." Dennis explained.

"I'm not trying to stop him from seeing him! I just want him to see what a bad idea it is! Yeah, I may be jealous and maybe I feel threatened but you know this isn't a good idea too, right?" asked Sunil. "Of course it's a bad idea! Just talk to him after he sees him and find out what the deal is! Until then, I don't know what you should do!" Dennis looked genuinely upset as he had a tendency to get over-invested in other people's issues.

"I need to go. I need to get out of here." said Sunil after a brief moment of thought. "What do you mean? Like, move out?" Dennis asked, looking confused. "No, not move out! I need to go home! My mom's going to moving back to Ireland next month, I should go with her while I have the chance!" Nothing could be said as Sunil had already catapulted himself towards the stairs so he could start packing. "You're being ridiculous! You can't just leave! What about Danni? What about Ste?" Dennis chased after him again, following him to his room. Sunil hoisted the large suitcase he arrived with onto his bed and zipped it open and began ripping his clothes out of the wardrobe, folding them up and piling them carelessly inside. "What about them? They obviously don't care about me that much! Danni made it clear she wants nothing to do with me because of Ste and now Ste wants to get involved with someone he loves more! I can't live here knowing he's still emotionally with Brendan! This can be a new start for me! I haven't been in Ireland since I was a baby! I can start my life again there. It makes sense. I should call my mom and tell her I'm going with her."

"No, it doesn't make sense! I thought you said you haven't spoken to your mother in years!" Dennis blabbered, watching on as Sunil's suitcase became fuller by the second. "Like I said, we can start over, fresh! If Ste doesn't want me here any more, I'll go willingly! I know when I'm not wanted. I love him enough to know I should let him go." The evening sky had dimmed quite a bit without either of them noticing. Once he had packed everything he needed, Sunil dragged his suitcase down the stairs and to the door, grabbing a coat from the coat hanger. "Thank you for everything, Dennis. You've really been a great mate." Sunil smiled through tears, throwing the jacket on himself. "Are you sure about this? You could at least wait until Ste gets home so you can say goodbye! He loves you, you know! It'll break his heart. Maybe you can sort things out!" pleaded Dennis. "No, I don't want to see him... Besides, this is only going to end with him having to make a choice between me and Brendan and we both know who he'll choose." Sunil choked as he opened the door. "He's not choosing anyone over you! He's just going to visit him!"

"It doesn't matter! As soon as he seems him, I'll lose him. I might as well speed up the process. If Danni comes back, tell her I love her. Goodbye, Dennis." And with that, Sunil left the house and wandered into the night to get to the bus stop.

Patrick slowly got out of the car for a final time and walked to the edge of the lake and stood calmly with his hands in his pockets as he gazed out at the scenery. He took a deep breath and strolled back to the car, opening the back door so he could speak to his former wife. "Would you care to join me?" he smiled lovingly. She did not respond but he reached in and grabbed her by the hair and tugged her out viciously. She crashed to the ground below face-first as her hands were still tied up. Patrick rolled her over with his foot and looked down at her with no expression whatsoever. "Please, let me go!" she pleaded in pain, blood running from her nose. He puffed and walked to the boot of the car before lifting Danni and Nico out, disposing of them on the ground beside Maxine. The sound of their bodies hitting the cold, solid mud made Maxine wince again. "Stand up!" he roared, his jaw clenched tight. The three girls tried their hardest to even get to their knees considering the fact they could not use their arms or legs and that they had just been brutally thrown to the ground. Danni and Nico seemed to be in extra pain as they had not had the ability to stretch their bodies in quite some time. Eventually, they made it to their feet. Nico had a large cut on her top lip from her fall and Danni had grazes on her forehead. They took deep breaths as their lungs were welcoming decent, fresh air for the first time in a while. Once they all had steadied themselves, they waited to hear what their twisted relative had to say.

"It's a beautiful night for a swim, isn't it?" he grinned. As he said that, a bone-chilling breeze swept by them, revealing how cold the water was likely to be. Danni broke down immediately once she realised what was going to happen to them. He was going to send them to an early, watery grave. "We're going to play a little game," he voiced as if he was speaking to children on a children's TV show, "here's how it's going to work. The three of you are going to turn around towards the lake. When I say, I want you all to try and swim to the other side. Whoever makes it to the other side is free to escape. How does that sound?" They peered over their shoulders to look at the lake again. The black water stretched so far into the distance. On the other side was a road that could be taken to get back to the village. Even if they were able to use their arms and legs, the sheer cold of the water would surely end them and even if they made it to the other side, who was to say that Patrick was actually going to let them go free? He was sick.

"Ready? Go!"

Maxine, Danni and Nico hesitantly turned on the spot to face the body of water. The small, rippling waves were inviting them in. Nico could be heard sobbing helplessly as she tried to edge herself closer to her aunt Danni. "Come on!" Patrick bellowed. Birds in a nearby tree flew away in disturbance. Carefully and hesitantly, they began to take steps towards the water.

"Don't try to run," Danni whispered to them, "he's got a gun, I saw it when he lifted me out of the boot. Stay calm and try to float."

"I can't swim!" Nico blubbered, staring anxiously at the approaching water. It was as if she was about to have a panic attack. "Neither can I!" Maxine added nervously. "Just stay calm..." Danni repeated. They were now in the water, walking further out. Gasps were let out from all three girls as the coldness of the water hit their legs. It sent shocking sensations straight up to their heads. Shortly after, they were knee-deep in water, then waist-deep, stomach-deep. They were surely going to drown fairly quickly. Only Danni knew how to swim and without usable arms or legs, there was no way she could save herself, let alone two other people. The moon-lit water was now at their chests (Nico's chin). The bottom of the lake was getting deeper with every step. Nico had to stand on her tippy-toes to enjoy her last obtainable breath.

An unexpected grunt was heard from behind them followed by the sound of a body falling to the floor. They whirled around in the water to see Patrick curled up and unconscious by the car. Standing over him was a woman holding a large, club-like tree branch that could have been used as a baseball bat. They tried to zoom their vision in to see who their saviour was but she was not facing them. As they pushed through the water to get back to solid ground, they called out to the mysterious woman. She turned around and dropped the branch.

"Mum!" Nico screamed, galloping towards Sienna. Sienna rapidly untied Nico's arms and legs and dragged her in to an unbreakable hug. "I knew I would find you! I'm so glad you're all okay!" Sienna panted as she untied and grabbed hold of Danni and Maxine too. "We have to get out of here now!" shouted Nico once everyone had finished. "What should we do about Patrick?" Danni asked as they stopped to look at his motionless body. Maxine reached down and took the gun from his pocket just in case he woke up and tried to ambush them again. "We're taking him with us, to the police." Maxine announced confidently. Sienna looked at her in disbelief. "He escaped death already so we need him locked up so he can never harm anyone ever again! There's enough dirt on him to get him a very lengthy sentence." she explained through chattering teeth.

They tied him up extra tight and used all of their strength to lift and angle his body into the car. They sat him up in the middle and put his seatbelt on so that he could not escape. Danni and Sienna decided to sit in the back with him; Maxine handed the gun to Danni to hold against his head so he wouldn't try anything. Once Maxine and Nico got into the front seats, they slammed the doors, started the car up and reversed out of the lake and took off back to the village, ready to turn this man in to the police and have justice once and for all.


	30. Chapter 30 - Applause

Rain had begun to pour from the heavens as Sunil stood anxiously at the village bus stop. The night sky and the bitter, autumn cold made him tremendously uncomfortable. There was something different about the village tonight, the atmosphere was not as calm as it usually was. For some unknown reason, there was a sense of rush even though there was no one around, a sense of anticipation. Perhaps it was because these were his final few moments in what was supposed to be his new home. He stared tearfully at the pavement, thinking about everything that had happened here. The faces of all of the friends he had made danced through his mind. He fell in love here. It was no Paris or Rome but this village was special. He hadn't thought much about the little things he was going to miss or the little things he enjoyed about the people and about Ste. Closing his eyes tight, he thought back to his favourite moments with Ste that were often blocked out by their struggles.

After a performance night with _The Nets_, Sunil had returned home, exhausted as always. He was barely able to make the journey from the front door to the bedroom. His energy levels had plummeted after he had started starving himself and no matter how long he slept, he barely made it through each day. After a shower to wash off the dry sweat and spilled alcohol, he stumbled achingly into the bedroom and collapsed beside Ste.

"Good night?" Ste mumbled, watching him try to throw the bedsheets over himself but giving up once he realised he was lying on top of them. "Yes... There were over a hundred people there tonight... Are you proud of me?" Sunil muffled through the pillow. "Over a hundred?! Of course I'm proud of you!" There was a pause before Sunil turned his head to smile at him, although his eyes were still closed. "I wanted to show you how proud I am of you tonight, actually." Ste started, a grin could be heard just through his voice. A drowzy grumble came from Sunil's pillow that sounded like "what do you mean?". "I was thinking, since it has been a while, me and you could try it out again tonight." Sunil was suddenly a little more awake than a second before. "I told you already, I just haven't been in the mood for sex for a while. I'm sorry. I do love you, you know that, don't you?" Ste suddenly slid his hand over Sunil's back and started kissing his shoulders. "Yes, and I love you and I want to show you that right now." Sunil nudged him off and groaned in fatigue until Ste started tickling him. "Come on!" Ste laughed as he tickled all of Sunil's weak spots, causing him to writhe around and scream in laughter. "Cut it out or I'm going to wet the bed!" begged Sunil. Moments later, he finally stopped and let him catch his breath, wiping the tears of laughter from his boyfriend's face and kissing him gently. "So, now that you're awake, I want the 'D'." Ste said with a cheeky grin, trying not to start laughing again. "Well, I want the 'S'". he replied giddily. "Ooh, what's that then? The 'Ste'?" he winked. Sunil lightly and playfully slapped Ste's face before saying "the sleep" and turning back to his pillow, drifting off to sleep almost immediately.

A sudden roll of thunder snapped Sunil back to reality and out of his daydreams. The rain had gotten heavier and he hadn't even noticed he had begun to cry and laugh at the memory. No wonder Ste had accused him of cheating with Cal. Ste must have felt so disappointed and hurt with the constant rejections. All of this time, his physical and mental health was holding him back from what was important. What kind of man or boyfriend was he not to have seen this earlier? It didn't matter any more, however. He would be gone in no more than an hour.

The thunder was not what woke Dennis up that night. Constant, panicked hard knocks were heard on the front door. Blessing was already awake because she was absolutely terrified of thunder and lightening but Dennis somehow had slept through it until now. He rushed downstairs in his over-sized dressing gown to open the door slightly to see who it was. It was Dodger. He was out of breath and drenched from the heavy downpour. Without saying a word, Dennis let his brother in from the rain. "What's the matter? It's really late! This better be important!" Dennis said, silencing himself once he saw how worried Dodger's face actually was. "Have you seen or heard anything from Maxine?" he panted, dripping rainwater all over the hallway floor. "Maxine? Why would I hear anything from her? Has something happened?" Dodger wiped his face and leaned back slightly, clearly not the answer he wanted to hear. "She's missing! She went out to _Price Slice_ and didn't come back! I don't know where she is!" Dodger yelled, rushing back to the door. "Hold on, mate! What are you talking about? How do you know she's missing? She has friends, maybe she's just gone out with them! Calm down, I'll try and call her!" replied Dennis, grabbing the phone from the hallway table and dialling. "There's no use! I know she's missing because I found her handbag and one of her shoes in the alleyway beside our building. Something has happened to her! I have to find her!" Dodger growled, almost slipping as he headed back out of the door. "Hold on! Let me get some clothes on and I'll help you! Wait there!" Dennis panicked as he ran towards the stairs. Dodger had already sprinted his way back to the village streets.

The next bus was only a few minutes away from arriving and Sunil wasn't sure if he was nervous or had caught a cold from being outside for so long. His legs were in pain but the bus shelter's seat was broken, thanks to a recent vandalism by Rebel. He wanted to sit on his bag but there were several photos he had taken with Ste packed in the pockets that would bend if he were to do so. Unzipping one of the bag's pockets, he carefully took out some of them and stood with his back to the street to protect them from the rain. These were some of his favourites; one from a night out in town where he and Ste got disgustingly drunk and climbed on stage in a bar to do a karaoke duet. Another was a simple snap of them in the living room with Danni sticking out her tongue in the background. He just adored how Ste's hair looked here. The next few pictures were from Ste's phone, he had taken these in bed where Sunil had fallen asleep on his arm and Ste made several funny faces. As Sunil smiled sadly and turned over to the next picture, he realised it was a personal favourite above all other favourites. It was taken in one of the last weeks of the summer weather by the lake. It was just a selfie of them lying side-by-side in the grass but it represented a much a bigger picture. Ste had prepared a marvellous picnic and Sunil had teased him for being so cheesy but he actually loved it. They had stayed at the lake all afternoon and into the evening that day, talking about everything and nothing. Those moments captured in that photo were the absolute opposite of where Sunil was right now. You could almost feel the summer heat from the picture just by looking at their sunglasses and how bright it was. Sunil looked up for a moment at the sullen, dim street lights on the other side of the street.

It felt like his insides tore up when he saw the next. A picture Danni had secretly taken of Sunil, Ste, Leah and Lucas playing together on the floor of the living room. It was such a perfect capture of a precious moment that could never possibly be forgotten. Danni had taken and printed the picture because she knew how much Sunil had wanted a family just so he could be a part of a proper family. He had never truly told Ste in detail because he was somehow afraid of the topic but he had often spoke to Danni about how much he loved spending time with Ste's kids and how he felt like it all just fit. This picture was proof. Danni was also great with Ste's children; Leah, especially. She was known as "auntie Danni" to them and it just fit into place even more. Everything they had built together in such short time was about to be destroyed forever. Sunil had spent the majority of his life by Danni's side and now he was heading back to Ireland to become a new person. He knew he was never going to find another Danni or another Ste and he was probably going to be miserable deep down for the rest of his life.

A loud horn almost caused Sunil to drop the precious photos into a puddle. He looked up and saw a bus had pulled up. It was a bus for the airport and it had arrived right on time despite the difficult weather. The doors opened and the driver peered out at him. "Are you getting on or what?" the driver grunted loudly over the crashing rain on the roof of the bus. Why didn't Sunil pick up his bag right there and then and get on the bus? Why was he hesitating? His heart raced but he couldn't step on the bus. He wanted to stay just a little longer. He hadn't reached a satisfying sense of closure yet with the village, he needed just another hour. "No thank you! I'm not going to the airport." he smiled as he watched the bus doors slide shut. It whirred out through the street and disappeared a moment later. Looking back at the timetable, he saw the next bus was actually in two hours, meaning he was definitely going to be sick by the time it arrived.

Ste sat glumly at _The Dog In The Pond_, staring into space as Darren took back his empty pint glasses every couple of minutes. "You might want to take it easy on those, mate. You won't be able to walk home!" Darren chuckled as he handed him his next drink. Usually, Ste would have something brash to say back about not telling him how to live his life but he just was not in the mood to try and cause trouble, even in his drunken state. He just belched loudly and continued to stare at himself in the mirror on the wall of the bar. Because no on else was there, Darren tried desperately to strike up some interesting conversation but he found himself talking to thin air as Ste simply acted as if he wasn't there, as if the drinks were just pouring themselves. "Is something going on between you and Sunil or something? I haven't seen you this out of it in a while." asked Darren, who decided to start wiping down the bar in order to pass time. "Is something going on between you and Nancy? Oh, wait, she left you, didn't she?" Ste slurred before downing the rest of yet another pint. "All right, come on, time to get you home. I'll drive you back, I don't want to hear about you getting run over on your way because we got you plastered. We're going to close up now any ways. Grab your jacket." Darren replied, trying to hold in his fury and understand that Ste was just very drunk and bitter about something. "I'm not going anywhere! I'm not done! I want another drink!" Ste said, reaching for his wallet and rooting through it for more money. "Sorry, mate. We're closing, let's go." Darren tried to help him stand up off of the stool but Ste was not having it. He shoved him off and continued to demand more drink. When Darren refused once again, Ste began kicking and throwing the stools around the pub, knocking over glasses in the process. Jack and Frankie appeared from upstairs to see what all of the noise was. They watched on in shock as Darren overpowered Ste and lifted him off of the ground and threw him outside. "You can forget the lift home! I hope you do get hit by a car!" Darren roared before slamming the door, leaving Ste in a puddle on the floor.

He wasn't sure how long he was there for, but Ste woke up moments later and struggled to his feet. The cold air stinging his soaked face felt horrible and he just wanted to go to bed. He, too had spent the evening thinking back on the time he had spent building himself and his relationship up. This time a year ago, he was still addicted to drugs, jobless, loveless, hopeless... He had no close friends, no regular access to his kids and certainly no one to come home to. He had everything just a day ago and now he felt like it was all beginning to fall apart once again. Brendan was now on his mind more often too. It wasn't even in a romantic way, he was just still stunned that he was actually going to be able to see him sometime soon. He was certain they had both changed since Brendan was arrested so he had no idea what to expect. Once he reached the house and fumbled with his keys to let himself in, he found Dennis looking like he was about head out. "Where are you off to at this time? You know what, don't answer that, I don't care, do what ya like. I'm going to bed." Ste mumbled in his stupor as he walked towards the stairs. He stopped, however as Dennis called him back. "I don't know how to tell you this mate, but Sunil's gone..." Dennis said quietly. Ste stared curiously at him, not sure what he was saying. "He's gone? Gone where? He can do what he likes too, none of my business, is it?" he answered through another belch. "No, Ste... I don't think you get it. He's gone, left. He's moving to Ireland. He's gone to the airport to leave for good..." Ste's eyes went from drunken-droopy to alert and alive instantly. He ran down the stairs and grabbed Dennis by the shoulders. "He's left me?! How long ago?! What did he say?! Why is he leaving?!" Dennis was shaken in every meaning of the word before he could speak. "I dunno! He said he was upset about what happened between you two and just decided to go! He didn't say much!" Ste sort of threw him to one side and rushed upstairs to see if any of Sunil's belongings were still there; there was nothing left. "Why didn't he say anything to me?! Why didn't he say goodbye?!" Ste bellowed, racing back down the stairs and to the door.

"He said he didn't want to see you, mate. He just left."

"Well, tough. He may not want to see me but I have to see him."

Having sobered up from the shock, adrenaline and cold of the night, Ste ran surprisingly steadily for the bus stop. He had no idea whether Sunil would already be gone by now, which he most likely was. Whipping his phone out of his pocket, he tried to call him, not caring that the rain was still pouring and now onto the phone's screen. Shockingly, Sunil answered.

"Hello?"

"Where are you?! Please tell me you're still at the bus stop! I need to see you! You can't do this to me, I love you!"

"I'm sorry, Ste. I have to do this... You have to understand it's the best thing for us. I love you too."

"Wait! At least let me say goodbye! I'm coming to the bus stop right now, don't you dare get on that bus until I can speak to you first! Please!"

"I don't know... I don't think I can see you, not now..."

"Just wait! I love you!"

Patrick started to regain conciousness as they approached the village. He tried to wriggle his way around but quickly realised he was tied up just like he had tied up his family the day before. "Morning, sunshine!" Nico beamed gleefully and sarcastically at her deranged grandfather. "Where are you taking me?! What's going on?!" he stuttered, looking back and forth at everyone in the car. He felt something hard and cold pressed against his temple. Turning slowly, he saw Danni's focused face and his silver gun in her hands. "Make a single move and I'll blow your sick brain all over that window." she said fiercely. Sienna sat quietly on the other side of Patrick, watching him closely. "We're taking you to the police." Maxine said proudly after a moment. "Seeing as killing you obviously doesn't work, we'll let you rot in prison. Besides, death is an easy way out for you. We want you to suffer. Prison will be the longest, most painful death and you'll deserve every second of it." Patrick laughed menacingly for a moment, looking into Maxine's eyes through the car mirror. "You don't honestly think I'll be given a life sentence for this, do you? Don't be ridiculous, Maxine. You were pretty dim-witted when I first met you but I thought I taught you better than that!" he smirked slyly. This time, Maxine laughed (which is something she hadn't done in a long time). "Don't you worry, sweetheart. We'll make sure you're locked up for good. Let's think about everything you've done that we will tell the police about. You abused me for months, you abused your own daughter all of her life, you have kidnapped everyone in this car at least once and we are going to frame you for setting our home on fire and you better believe they'll buy it with everything they know about you. Because of that fire, my baby died. You're finished, Patrick!" He glared at her in disgust as they arrived in the village.

Maxine had the wipers on full-whack in order to see through the rain but she was still struggling. None of them could have seen it coming, but Patrick lunged forward all of a sudden and sunk his teeth into Maxine's shoulder. A gunshot was heard and the girls screamed in terror. Maxine tried her best to steer and keep the car steady but the gaping teeth marks in her arm caused excruciating pain. On top of the rain, tears of pain flooded her eyes, her vision was completely blurred. She tried her best to see where she was going but couldn't have stopped what was about to take place. As the windows cleared for a moment and she could see ahead with help from the headlights, a figure appeared in close distance, a person. The person spun around and froze. They were speeding towards the bus stop and Sunil was directly in front of the car. "Watch out!" Nico screamed. Maxine slammed on the breaks but it was too late, she was going to hit Sunil.

It happened so fast, but Sunil felt something push him aside with great force. He was sent flying out of the way from the car's path and crashed to the ground. He looked up and saw everything happen in slow-motion. He heard screaming from the car and watched in horror as it struck Ste, who had pushed him out of harm's way. His body hit the windscreen with unimaginable force before tumbling over the top of the car and landing with a sickening thud on the pavement. The car continued to crash into the bus stop and then into the ditch behind the bus stop.

Sunil felt like he wasn't even in his own body, the horror of what he had just witnessed left him frozen. He didn't dare breath or make a sound because he really couldn't. He hesitantly crawled towards the lump on the ground beside him, too afraid to do anything for a moment. Before he could even lay a hand on Ste, he like he couldn't cry hard enough, like he simply couldn't get anything out. He gently placed his hand on Ste's arm and turned him over onto his back, wailing at the sight of his face. Blood gushed from large cuts on his head and his nose. It was becoming more apparent that his body was lifeless and it was hard to accept. Sunil had seen so much life in him and had spent the last year of his life with him and now it appeared to be gone, just like that. Ste's last action was to push him out of the way, to die a hero. Sunil's throat and chest ached as he continued to roar in emotional agony. Nothing had ever felt this bad, he had never felt anything even close to it. His heart had never shattered so devastatingly. This was real pain.

He didn't want to touch Ste's already broken body in case he broke it any more but he had to hold him. He cradled Ste's head and placed his own head on Ste's chest, soaking tears into him. He could feel the last bit of remaining warmth in his limp body and held him close to take it all in before the chilly night and the cruelty of death stole it from him. The sound of the torrential rain was like an inappropriate applause to a tragic end and Sunil's traumatised screams of anguish echoed eerily through the silent village.

*** That's it for this series! Thank you so much for reading, reviewing, sharing and enjoying this as much as I have! It isn't over yet, though! My new series Hollyoaks: Love & Hate starts next week and will continue from where Secrets & Lies left off! Get ready for new characters, more drama and lots of love and hate! Love you and thanks! 3 ***


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